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Copyright,  1912,  by  Thomas  Furlong, 


FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE 

BY 

THOMAS  FURLONG 

Late  Chief  of  the  Secret  Service  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Rail- 
way, known  as  the  Gould  System;  the  Allegheny 
Valley    Railway    of    Pennsylvania, 
and  first  Chief  of  Police  of 
Oil  City,  Pa. 


35  REAL  DETECTIVE  STORIES 


Hitherto  unpublished  facts  connected  with  some  of  Mr.  Fur- 
long's greatest  cases — Other  interesting  incidents  of  his 
long  and  strenuous  career  which  really  began  on 
September  14,  1862,  when  he  was  detailed 
from  his  company,  (Co.  G.,  1st  Penn- 
sylvania Rifles,  better  known 
as  the  Pennsylvania  B  uck- 
tails)    for   special 
service. 


ILLUSTRATED 


For  sale  by  all  reputable  newsdealers,  or  can 
be  obtained  by  addressing 

C.  E.  BARNETT,  Chemical  Building, 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Post  Office  Box  575  Price,  $1.50 


TiiOMAS  FURLONG, 


PREFACE. 


HIS  book  was  not  published  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
playing any   literary   ability   I   may   possess,   as   I 

have  never  aspired  to  win  fame  by  the  wielding 

of  a  pen.  Within  its  pages,  however,  I  have  attempted, 
in  my  own  way  and  in  my  own  manner,  to  make  clear  to 
the  reader  the  inside  or  hitherto  unpublished  facts  about 
some  of  the  big  cases  I  have  handled  during  the  fifty  years 
I  have  made  the  prevention  of  crime  and  the  tracking  and 
punishment  of  criminals  my  profession.  How  well  I  have 
succeeded,  I  will  leave  it  to  the  reader  to  judge. 

I  am  today,  I  believe,  the  oldest  detective,  in  point  of 
continuous  service,  in  this  or  any  other  country.  During 
my  long  career  I  have  handled  many  important  cases,  of 
which  the  reading  public  knows  nothing  about,  for  the 
reason  that  the  men,  or  corporations,  by  whom  I  was  em- 
ployed, did  not  hire  me  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  news- 
papers with  the  material  with  which  to  amuse  or  entertain 
their  readers.  Within  these  pages  I  tell  how  the  work  was 
done,  and  how  the  clues  were  found  and  put  together.  On 
the  other  hand,  many  cases  referred  to  in  this  book  have 
received  much  newspaper  publicity,  but  in  these  articles 
the  writers  were  not  permitted  to  tell  all  the  inside  facts — 
how  the  work  was  really  accomplished.  These  facts  are 
made  public  for  the  first  time. 

In  a  few  instances  I  have  changed,  or  veiled,  the  names 
of  the  culprits  about  whom  the  articles  were  written.  For 
doing  this  I  do  not  propose  to  apologize,  however.  These 
men  are  alive  today  and  are  leading  upright  lives.     They 

11 55793 


4  PREFACE 

have  paid  the  penalty  demanded  by  the  law  and  society, 
and  I  cannot  see  where  it  would  do  any  good  to  again 
publish  their  early  digressions  to  the  world.  I  have  no 
disposition  to  willfully  malign  any  one,  and  names  are 
only  used  in  cases  in  which  the  facts  are  supported  by 
documents  in  the  archives  of  the  courts  of  this  country, 
Canada  and  Mexico,  the  scenes  of  my  greatest  activity. 

In  selecting  material  for  this  book  I  have  only  used 
cases  which  were  out  of  the  ordinary,  or  in  the  unraveling 
of  which  some  original  or  unique  detective  work  was 
done.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  enlarge  on  the  facts 
at  hand.  The  book  is  just  a  simple  narration  of  real  de- 
tective work  done  on  real  cases  handled  by  me — no  at- 
tempt having  been  made  to  color  them  as  an  experienced 
writer  would  do,  or  is  done  to  the  work  or  the  deduc- 
tions of  the  phantom  detectives  by  the  writers  of  fiction. 

Hoping  that  the  book  will  serve  the  purpose  for  which  it 
is  issued  I  am, 

Yours  truly. 

THOS.  FURLONG. 


SIDE-LIGHTS  ON  THE  BUSINESS. 

ELEMENTS    NECESSARY    TO    MAKE    A    GOOD    DETECTIVE. 

HONESTY    AND    TENACITY    VALUABLE    ASSETS. 

THE  PROFESSION  HAS  ITS  PARASITES. 

All  professions  have  their  parasites  and  crooks.  Among 
the  lawyers  you  will  find  men  who  will  commit  a  felony 
for  a  few  paltry  dollars  to  clear  a  client  of  a  charge  of 
petty  larceny — providing  he  does  not  think  there  is  a  chance 
of  his  being  caught. 

Among  the  doctors  you  will  find  men  (and  they  have 
diplomas  with  larger  red  seals  on  them  than  has  the  commis- 
sion of  the  President  of  the  United  States)  who  make  a 
specialty  of  committing  illegal  operations,  and  doing  other 
things  that  are  not  considered  either  lawful  or  ethical. 

Among  bankers  you  will  find  men  who  every  day  violate 
both  the  laws  of  the  state  and  the  government — high 
finance,  they  call  it. 

The  general  public,  however,  knows  and  freely  admits 
there  are  honest,  upright,  truthful  lawyers,  doctors  and 
bankers,  and  highly  honor  each  of  these  professions. 

But  the  aforesaid  general  public  is  not  so  charitable  to 
detectives.  The  pettifogging  lawyers  and  irresponsible 
penny  liners  of  the  press  have  educated  it  up  to  believing 
that  all  detectives  are  thieves,  thugs  and  black  guards, 
just  because  there  are  some  men  in  the  business  who  make 
the  peddling  of  family  secrets  and  the  working  up  of  evi- 
dence in  divorce  cases  a  specialty.  I  could  never  quite 
understand  why  this  state  of  affairs  should  be  true,  for  I 

5 


6  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

know  many  men  of  as  good  moral  character  and  just  as 
honest  and  upright  in  the  detective  business  as  I  have 
found  in  any  of  the  other  professions. 

Detectives  are  born,  not  made — that  is  the  successful 
ones — just  as  are  the  successful  lawyers  or  doctors  or 
mechanics  or  merchants.  Education  does  not  always  make 
a  man  a  success  in  his  chosen  profession  or  calling. 
Unless  he  really  possesses  the  peculiar  make-up,  or  fitness, 
for  what  he  chooses  to  make  his  life  work,  he  will  never 
reach  the  top  round  of  the  ladder  of  fame.  Education, 
however,  will  help  develop  these  necessary  qualities,  but 
that  is  all. 

In  addition  to  all  these  qualifications  there  are  others 
V\hich  the  detective  must  possess. 

He  must  be  scrupulously  honest  at  all  times,  with  him- 
self and  with  those  with  whom  he  has  dealings. 

He  must  be  sober,  truthful  and  reliable,  and,  in  addition, 
at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances,  a  gentleman. 

Tenacity  and  nerve  are  other  valuable  assets.  A  lazy 
man,  or  a  coward,  has  no  business  in  the  ranks.  And  he 
must  at  all  times  be  firm. 

To  my  mind,  a  real  detective  should  possess  all  the  ele- 
ments within  his  general  make-up,  which  would  be  neces- 
sary to  make  him  a  success  at  any  of  the  leading  profes- 
sions. He  should  possess  the  keen  perceptive  abilities  of 
a  trained  or  successful  journalist,  be  able  to  read  between 
the  lines,  as  it  were,  or  recognize  the  value  of  a  clue,  as 
the  journalist  does  the  value  of  a  bit  of  news.  He  must 
be  well  posted  on  the  law,  especially  that  part  pertaining 
to  criminals.  He  must  have  the  foresight  and  judgment 
of  the  successful  merchant  or  tradesman.  He  must  be 
sympathetic  and  just  to  the  same  degree  as  is  the  beloved 
pastor  of  a  large  congregation.    And  he  must  be  an  actor. 


SIDE-LIGHTS  ON  THE  BUSINESS.  7 

one  of  the  versatile  kind  of  actors,  who  can  play  any- 
kind  of  a  part  or  assume  any  character  without  month's 
of  rehearsing.  He  should  at  all  times  act  natural,  even 
while  assuming  a  character,  for  if  he  overdoes  the  part  he 
assumes,  it  is  more  than  likely  to  attract  unusual  attention 
to  him,  which  a  real  detective  should  avoid  at  all  times. 

Remember  another  thing:  All  crimes,  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  out  of  every  thousand,  have  a  motive.  True, 
these  motives  are  often  veiled  and  are  not  discernable  a^  a 
mere  glance.  You  must  be  a  good  diagnostician  to  hand'e 
these  veiled  cases — to  diagnose  them,  as  it  were,  as  a 
learned  physician  diagnoses  his  case  when  called  to  the 
bedside  of  a  very  sick  patient — find  the  cause.  When 
you  have  found  the  motive  for  a  crime,  the  balance  of  the 
work  is  usually  easy. 

There  is  one  more  phase  of  the  detective  business  that 
I  want  to  refer  to  briefly.  Many  men  believe  they  were 
created  or  born  for  the  express  purpose  of  becoming  detect- 
ors of  crime.  They  believe  they  have  missed  their  calling 
— it  makes  no  difference  by  what  means  they  are  making 
a  living  now — because  they  have  not  been  "called"  into 
the  detective  business  and  many  of  them  actually  put  in 
all  their  leisure  time  trying  to  "catch  on"  to  a  job, 
either  in  some  municipal  department  of  with  some  private 
agency.  The  truth  is,  not  one  in  ten  thousand  of  these  men 
would  "make  good"  if  the  opportunity  to  do  so  was  offered 
them. 

The  chief  of  a  detective  agency  does  not  go  among  these 
men  who  are  laboring  under  the  delusion  that  they  have 
been  "called,"  when  he  wants  men  to  do  real  detective 
work.  He  selects  his  recruits  from  among  acquaintances 
in  whom  he  has  recognized  the  talents  necessary  for  the 
making  of  good  thief-catchers  or  investigators.     These  are 


8  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

found  in  all  professions  and  trades.  Among  the  men  in 
my  employ  can  be  found, men  who  are  capable  of  running 
the  mechanical  end  of  almost  any  kind  of  business,  from 
a  boiler  shop  to  a  composing  room  in  a  large  printing  house, 
or  who  could  easily  find,  because  of  their  qualifications,  a 
good  job  in  any  large  commercial  or  mercantile  establish- 
ment. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  add  that  after  the  natural  qualifica- 
tions for  a  good  detective  have  developed  themselves,  it 
takes  more  hard  work  and  study  to  reach  the  pinnacle  of 
fame  than  other  professions  require,  and  the  remuneration 
is  a  great  deal  less,  taking  into  consideration  the  hazardous- 
ness  of  the  business. 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE. 

TRUE     STATEMENT     AS     TO     HOW    THE    EVIDENCE    WHICH    HUNG 
MAXWELL    WAS    OBTAINED     PUBLISHED    FOR    THE 
FIRST   TIME, 

The  Preller  murder  occurred  in  the  summer  of  1885,  in 
one  of  the  rooms  of  the  Southern  Hotel,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Clarence  Preller  was  a  young  Englishman,  as  was  also  his 
slayer,  Hugh  M.  Brookes.  The  discovery  of  the  body,  the 
apprehension  .of  the  murderer,  his  trial  and  execution,  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  civilized  world.  The  true  story 
of  the  conviction  of  the  perpetrator  of  this  foul  crime 
has  never  before  been  published. 

Hugh  M-  Brookes  was  a  native  of  Hyde  Park,  a  suburb  of 
London,  England.  His  father  and  mother  were  respect- 
able people,  and  school  teachers  by  professions.  The  young 
man  was  about  twenty-five  or  six  years  of  age  when  he 
committed  this  crime.  He  had  never  done  anything  but  go 
to  school,  consequently  was  well  educated.  The  last  school 
he  attended  was  a  law  school.  He  ran  away  from  this 
institution,  after  stealing  a  lot  of  property  that  belonged 
to  fellow  students.  The  plunder  he  secured  consisted 
mostly  of  ornaments  and  bric-a-brac,  which  he  pawned  at 
Liverpool,  England,  to  secure  enough  money  with  which 
to  purchase  a  first-class  ticket  to  Boston,  Mass.  After 
boarding  the  vessel  he  met  and  formed  the  acquaintance  of 
Clarence  Preller. 

Preller  was  a  trusted  employee  of  a  large  export  estab- 
lishment  of   London.      His   duties   required   him   to   travel 

9 


10  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

nearly  all  over  the  world,  or,  at  least,  to  visit  the  principal 
cities  of  the  world.  He  was  a  young  man,  being  about 
thirty  years  of  age,  and  finding  Brookes,  a  fellow-country- 
man, an  agreeable  companion,  took  very  kindly  to  him. 
Brookes  represented  himself  as  being  a  titled  nobleman, 
who  had  just  finished  his  course  at  college,  and  was  making 
a  pleasure  tour  of  America.     He  called  himself  Maxwell. 


Hugh  M.  Brookes,  Alias  Maxwell 

The  young  Englishman  hung  for  murdering  Arthur  Preller  in  the 
Southern  Hotel. 

During  the  voyage  from  Liverpool  to  Boston,  Preller 
told  Maxwell,  as  I  will  call  him  hereafter,  that  after  he 
had  attended  to  a  matter  of  business  for  his  firm  at  Boston 
he  had  to  go  to  Toronto,  Canada,  where  he  would  be 
detained  but  a  day  or  two.  Then  he  woiild  leave  Toronto 
for  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  where  he  also  had  some  business 
to  do  for  his  firm,  which  would  require  but  a  short  time, 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  11 

and  that  from  there  he  would  go  through  to  San  Francisco, 
California,  and  sail  from  there  on  the  first  steamship  to 
Auckland,  New  Zealand.  Maxwell  told  him  that  he  be- 
lieved he  would  go  from  Boston  to  St.  Louis,  where  he 
(Maxwell)  would  await  the  arrival  of  Preller  from  Toronto, 
then  accompany  him  to  Auckland  just  for  the  trip.  This 
proposition  pleased  Preller. 

They  arrived  safely  in  Boston,  where  they  remained  two 
or  three  days  together,  and  where  Maxwell  learned  that 
Preller  had  in  his  possession  seven  one  hundred  dollar 
bills.  After  Preller  had  finished  his  business  in  Boston 
they  settled  their  bills  at  the  Adams  Plouse,  where  they 
had  stopped,  went  to  the  depot  together  and  separated, 
Preller  going  to  Toronto  and  Maxwell  to  St.  Louis.  They 
had  agreed  that  Maxwell  was  to  stop  at  the  Southern 
Hotel  in  St.  Louis,  there  to  await  Preller.  Maxwell  arrived 
at  that  hotel  and  engaged  a  room,  where  Preller  joined 
him  a  couple  of  days  later.  I  think  it  was  Saturday  when 
he  arrived,  and  they  occupied  the  same  apartments. 

On  the  following  Sunday,  after  they  had  eaten  their 
dinner  and  returned  to  their  room,  Preller  complained  of 
suffering  from  stomach  trouble.  Maxwell  claimed  to  have 
some  knowledge  of  medicine,  and  administered  an  over- 
dose of  morphia,  hyperderminally.  A  short  time  after  ad- 
ministering the  drug,  and  when  he  saw  that  Preller  was 
beginning  to  breathe  his  last,  he  poured  more  than  half  the 
contents  of  a  four  ounce  bottle  of  chloroform  into  Preller's 
almost  lifeless  lips.  When  Preller  was  dead,  Maxwell 
stripped  the  body  and  placed  a  suit  of  his  own  underwear 
on  him.  Maxwell  was  small  in  stature,  being  only  about 
five  feet  five  inches  in  height,  while  Preller  was  much 
larger  and  about  six  feet  tall.  Maxwell's  clothing  was 
marked  with  the  name  of  Hugh  M.  Brookes,  and  they  were 


12  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

entirely  too  small   for  the  body  of  Preller. 

In  removing  the  underwear  Maxwell  used  a  candle 
snuffer,  which  is  very  much  like  a  pair  of  scissors,  only  the 
cutting  surface  had  a  half-circle.  He  cut  the  undergarments 
the  full  length  of  the  limbs  so  that  he  could  easily  strip 
them  off.  Then  he  managed  to  pull  his  own  garmicnts  on 
the  body.  He  emptied  out  the  trunk  belonging  to  Preller, 
and  pressed  the  body  into  it.  He  had  to  almost  double 
it  into  a  circle  to  get  it  into  the  trunk,  but  be  succeeded. 
Then  strapping  and  locking  the  trunk,  he  put  his  own, 
as  well  as  Preller's  effects  into  his  own  trunk,  and  retired 
for  the  night. 

The  next  morning,  after  breakfast,  he  called  at  the 
cashier's  office,  settled  his  bill,  and  stated  to  the  clerk  that 
his  friend  Preller  had  been  obliged  to  make  a  short  run  out 
of  town,  and  would  be  back  to  the  hotel  in  two  or  three 
days,  and  desired  that  the  room  be  held  for  him,  as  his 
trunk  and  effects  would  remain  there  until  he  called  for 
them.  Maxwell  explained  that  he  had  to  leave  that  morn- 
ing and  expected  his  friend  Preller  to  join  him  later. 

He  instructed  the  head  porter  to  bring  his  large  trunk 
down  into  the  corridor.  The  one  he  had  ordered  brought 
down  contained  the  dead  body,  but,  to  his  consternation, 
the  porter  brought  down  the  one  in  which  his  and  Preller's 
effects  had  been  packed.  He  became  very  much  alarmed, 
and  had  his  trunk  taken  to  Union  Station  and  checked  to 
San  Francisco,  buying  a  ticket  for  that  place.  He  departed 
over  the  Frisco  Road,  and  arrived  in  San  Francisco,  where 
he  remained  one  night,  and  the  following  day  bought  a 
ticket  for  Auckland,  New  Zealand,  and  sailed  that  afternoon. 

The  weather  was  quite  warm  in  St.  Louis,  and  after  a 
few  days  decomposition  set  in  upon  the  corpse  in  the  trunk. 
The  odor  from  the   room  attracted  the  attention  of  the 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  13 

servants.  They  reported  to  the  office,  the  room  was  en- 
tered and  the  body  found.  The  police  were  notified  at 
once.  A  good  description  of  Maxwell  was  furnished  by 
the  hotel  people,  and  telegrams  were  sent  in  all  directions, 
giving  this  description,  and  requesting  Maxwell's  arrest. 

Capt.  Leas,  Chief  of  Police  of  San  Francisco,  received 
one  of  these  telegrams,  started  his  detectives  to  investi- 
gate, and  succeeded  in  learning  that  the  murderer  had 
sailed  for  Auckland  some  three  or  four  days  before  he  had 
received  the  telegraphic  description  of  him  from  St,  Louis. 
Whereupon  Chief  Leas  cabled  the  proper  authorities  of 
Auckland  a  full. description  of  Maxwell,  and  even  the  num- 
ber of  the  stateroom  he  occupied  on  the  ship.  Of  course, 
Capt.  Leas'  telegram  reached  Auckland  several  days  be- 
fore the  ship  arrived. 

When  the  ship  arrived  at  Auckland,  the  police  sent  out 
two  of  their  detectives  with  the  pilot,  who  was  to  guide 
the  steamer  on  which  Maxwell  had  taken  passage  into  port. 
They  arrested  him  as  soon  as  they  boarded  the  ship,  and 
when  the  vessel  landed  immediately  notified  the  St.  Louis 
authorities,  in  accordance  with  Capt.  Leas'  instructions  to 
them.  After  obtaining  proper  extradition  papers,  the  Chief 
of  Police  of  St.  Louis  sent  two  of  his  detectives  to  Auckland 
to  bring  Maxwell  back  to  St.  Louis.  They  went  to  Auck- 
land by  way  of  San  Francisco,  found  Maxwell  in  jail  there 
and  brought  him  back  to  St.  Louis.  It  was  a  long  and 
expensive  trip,  and  cost  the  city  of  St.  Louis  a  great  deal 
of  money. 

On  arriving  in  St.  Louis  the  prisoner  was  locked  up  with- 
out bail,  on  the  charge  of  murdering  Preller.  He  im- 
mediately employed  two  lawyers  to  defend  him.  After 
having  consulted  with  his  lawyers,  Maxwell  became  jubi- 
lant— so  much   so  that  he  became   obnoxious   to   his   fellow 


14 


FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 


prisoners.  He  was  naturally  inclined  to  be  overbearing, 
and  seemed  to  hold  himself  aloof  from  the  other  prisoners. 
He  was  rather  inclined  to  braggadocia,  and  attracted  a 
lot  of  attention.  The  daily  papers  devoted  a  great  deal  of 
space  to  Tiim,  which  he  seemed  to  enjoy  immensely.  In 
fact,  the  notoriety  appeared  to  be  very  pleasing  to  him. 


Marshall  F.  McDonald 
The  Famous  Criminal  Lawj'er  who  prosecuted  Brookes,  alias  Maxwell 

A  few  days  after  he  had  been  lodged  in  jail  in  St.  Louis, 
Ashley  C.  Clover,  Circuit  Attorney  of  St.  Louis,  in  company 
with  Marshall  F.  McDonald,  Assistant  Circuit  Attorney, 
drove  out  to  my  residence  one  night.     I  was  then  Chief 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  15 

Special  Agent  for  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  Company, 
and  both  Messrs.  Clover  and  McDonald  were  personal 
friends  of  mine. 

Mr.  Clover  stated  that  the  object  of  their  visit  was  in 
reference  to  the  Maxwell  case.  He  went  on  to  state  that 
although  the  arrest  and  returning  of  Maxwell  from  Auck- 
land to  St.  Louis  had  cost  the  city  of  St.  Louis  a  great 
deal  of  money,  and  the  case  had  become  one  of  interna- 
tional importance,  yet  he  did  not  believe  that  the  officers 
of  the  St.  Louis  police  department  had  made  any  efforts  to 
get  at  the  real  facts  in  the  case.  So  far  they  had  not  found 
enough  evidence  to  procure  a  conviction,  in  case  the  defend- 
ant went  on  the  stand  and  testified  that  the  giving  of  too 
much  chloroform  to  Preller  was  an  accident.  Mr.  Clover 
said  that  he  wanted  the  real  facts  in  the  case.  "For,"  he 
said,  "while  there  is  scarcely  any  doubt  that  Maxwell  caused 
the  death  of  Preller  by  an  over-dose  of  chloroform,  yet 
he  may  have  done  it  innocently,  and  if  such  is  the  case, 
under  our  laws,  he  could  not  be  convicted  of  the  murder,  and 
ought  not  to  be,  in  my  opinion.  But,  on  the  contrary,  if 
he  dosed  him  purposely  and  felonously  with  forethought 
and  malice,  he  ought  to  be  convicted.  H  he  did  it  inno- 
cently, and  I  could  be  assured  of  that,  I  would  be  pleased 
to  ask  the  jury  to  acquit  him,  but,  as  I  said  before,  if  he 
is  guilty  it  would  be  my  duty  as  circuit  attorney  to  insist 
on  his  conviction.  And  now,  Tom,  I  want  you  to  get  the 
facts  in  this  case  for  me." 

To  which  I  replied;  "Mr.  Clover,  I  really  do  not  know 
anything  about  this  case,  except  what  I  have  read  in  the 
newspapers,  and,  of  course,  you  know  as  well  as  I  do 
that  a  man  cannot  base  much  of  an  opinion  on  a  case  of 
this  kind  on  newspaper  accounts,  and,  therefore,  I  wish  you 


16  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

would  give  me  a  little  time  to  think  the  matter  over.  I 
fully  approve  of  the  sentiments  that  you  have  expressed 
in  connection  with  the  case,  and  will  be  glad,  indeed,  to 
do  all  in  my  power  to  assist  you." 

Both  gentlemen  said  they  wished  that  I  would  take  the 
matter  under  advisement  until  the  following  evening  at 
eight  o'clock,  at  which  time  they  would  again  call  at  my 
house  to  talk  the  matter  over  with  me. 

The  following  evening  at  the  appointed  time  they  called 
and  were  both  apparently  anxious  to  learn  what  I  thought 
I  could  do  in  the  way  of  obtaining  the  facts  pertaining  to 
the  case. 

After  the  usual  greeting,  and  when  both  had  been  seated. 
I  said,  "Gentlemen,  I  have  been  thinking  about  the  case  in 
question,  and  have  become  satisfied  that  there  were  but 
two  people  who  knew  the  whole  facts  connected  with  the 
case,  and  the  facts  that  you  now  desire  to  know.  One  of 
these  persons  is  now  in  jail,  and  the  other  is  dead.  In  my 
opinion  Maxwell  is  the  only  living  person  who  knows  the 
facts,  and,  therefore,  he  is  the  only  person  from  whom 
these  facts  can  be  obtained.  I  believe  I  can  get  those  facts 
from  him,  but  I  want  you  gentlemen  to  understand  that 
I  am  in  the  employ  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany, and,  of  course,  they  are  paying  me  for  all  my  time, 
but  if  I  were  not  in  their  employ  I  could  not  do  this  myself 
on  account  of  my  being  so  well  known.  For  that  reason 
it  would  be  necessary  for  me  to  select  a  competent  opera- 
tive to  do  this  work  under  my  instructions.  I  shall  be 
glad  to  do  this,  or  anything  else  that  I  can  do  to  assist 
you  in  unraveling  this  case,  with  the  vmderstanding  that 
I  am  not  to  receive  any  compensation  for  what  I  may  do 
myself,    but    I    shall    expect    3'ou    gentlemen    to    pay    the 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  17 

operative  that  I  may  use  in  this  work  the  same  aiiKJunt  of 
salary  that  we  are  paying  him,  and  his  actual  exi)enses. 
As  I  said  before,  I  will  do  all  that  I  can,  but  will  neither 
expect  nor  receive  any  remuneration  for  my  services." 

"Tom,"  replied  Mr.  Clover,  "There  is  no  fund  provided 
l.-»y  the  city  for  the  employment  of  outside  talent  for  such 
work  as  this  in  question,  but  I  expect  to  pay  the  expense 
out  of  my  OAvn  pocket,  and  I  shall  insist  on  paying  you 
for  your  services  in  connection  with  this  matter." 

I  answered,  "I  will  receive  nothing  for  any  work  that  I 
may  do  in  the  matter." 

At  this  point  in  the  conversation  Mr,  McDonald,  who 
had  been  sitting  quietly,  listening  to  Mr.  Clover  and  my- 
self, said,  "Tom,  how  do  you  expect  to  obtain  the  facts  in 
this  case?    That's  what  I  would  like  to  know." 

"Mr.  McDonald,"  I  responded,  "I  feel  that  it  would  be 
easier  for  me  to  go  ahead  and  do  this  work,  than  it  would 
be  for  me  to  undertake  to  tell  you  how  I  propose  to  do  it." 

Mr.  Clover  then  said,  "Tom,  I  am  going  to  place  this 
matter  in  your  hands.  I  want  you  to  go  ahead  and  get 
this  thing  started  as  soon  as  possible,  as  the  defendant's 
attorneys  are  clammoring  for  a  speedy  trial,  and  I  do  not 
wish  to  keep  them  waiting  any  longer  than  I  can  help. 
You  do  this  work  in  your  own  wa}^  and  I  will  pay  the  bills." 

I  said,  "All  right." 

The  next  day  I  telegraphed  to  Philadelphia  to  an  operative 
in  my  emplo}^  there.  He  was  an  entire  stranger  in  St, 
Louis.  I  wired  him  to  come  at  once,  and  not  to  stop  at  my 
office,  but  to  come  direct  to  my  house  on  his  arrival  in 
the  city,  which  lie  did. 

His  name  was  John  McCulloch.  He  was  about  thirt}^- 
five  years  of  age,  about  live  feet,  ten  inches  in  height,  and 


18  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

weighed  about  two  hundred  pounds.  He  was  well  built, 
had  a  sandy  complexion,  and  was  rather  a  good-looking 
fellow.  He  was  Avearing  side-whiskers,  or  burnsides,  as 
they  were  called,  and  a  blonde  mustache,  and  looked  very 
much  like  an  Englishman.  He  was  truthful  and  honest, 
and  of  sober  habits,  but  a  little  thick-headed,  or,  in  other 
words,  dull  of  comprehension.  In  instructing  him  it  was 
necessary  to  explain  each  detail  fully,  and  sometimes  it 
would  seem  as  if  it  were  necessary  to  take  a  hammer  and 
pound  the  instructions  into  his  head,  but  when  he  once 
understood  thoroughly  what  you  wanted  him  to  do  he 
would  carry  out  instructions  to  the  letter. 

Right  here  it  might  be  well  to  take  the  reader  into  my 
confidence.  I  had  decided  to  get  my  operative  (IMcCulloch) 
into  jail,  Avhere  he  could  meet  Maxwell,  without  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  local  police  officers. 

After  explaining  the  nature  of  the  case  to  him,  I  instructed 
him  to  procure  the  leading  daily  papers  of  St.  Louis,  dating 
back  to  the  time  of  the  murder,  and  to  read  every  line 
that  had  been  published  relative  to  the  case.  This  he 
did,  and  it  took  him  about  three  weeks.  I  met  him  each 
evening  during  the  time  and  rehearsed  with  him  what  I 
wanted  him  to  do,  from  the  time  he  was  arrested,  and  how 
he  should  act  after  his  arrest  and  incarceration. 

Early  in  February,  1886,  I  succeeded  in  getting  pos- 
session of  a  few  blank  checks  from  the  office  of  D.  S.  H. 
Smith,  who  was  local  treasurer  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company  in  St.  Louis.  Being  Chief  Special  Agent 
of  the  road  I  had  occasion  to  visit  the  local  treasurer's 
office  frequently,  and  being  well  known,  not  only  to  the  local 
treasurer,  but  to  all  of  his  office  force  as  well,  I  had  no 
difficulty  in  obtaining  the  blank  checks  without  the  knowl- 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  19 

edge  of  Dr.  Smith,  as  the  local  treasurer  was  called  by  most 
of  the  people  who  knew  him,  or  any  of  his  clerks. 

My  chief  clerk  was  a  good  penman,  and  was  familiar 
with  the  signature  of  Dr.  D.  S.  H.  Smith.  I  had  him 
practice  for  some  time  on  imitating  Dr.  Smith's  signature, 
and  found  that  he  could  imitate  it  so  clearly  that  it  would 
have  been  accepted  as  genuine  by  any  bank  teller.  While 
I  wanted  a  fairly  good  imitation  of  the  signature,  I  did 
not  want  it  to  be  so  good  that  it  would  be  received  at  the 
bank.  After  practicing  for  a  time  he  succeeded  in  making 
a  signature  which  I  thought  would  answer  my  purpose.  I 
had  him  fill  out  one  of  the  blank  checks  for  the  amount 
of  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  dollars  and 
ten  cents.  I  then  gave  this  check  to  McCulloch,  with  in- 
structions to  him  to  present  it  to  the  paying-teller  of  the 
Mechanics  Bank,  which  was  then  on  Fourth  street.  He 
was  to  present  this  check  at  9 :45  sharp,  the  following 
morning.  I  had  received  a  check,  a  day  or  two  before  this, 
which  bore  the  signature  of  Dr.  Smith,  and  had  purposely 
held  this  out,  and  was  waiting  across  the  street  from  the 
bank  when  I  saw  McCiilloch,  whom  I  will  hereafter  call 
Frank  Dingfelter,  as  this  was  the  name  he  assumed,  and 
was  the  name  to  which  the  check  had  been  made  payable.   - 

On  entering  the  bank  Dingfelter  went  to  the  window  of 
the  paying-teller,  Mr.  Warner,  and  presented  the  check. 
AVarner  examined  the  check  very  carefully,  and  by  reason 
of  its  being  for  so  large  an  amount,  and  Dingfelter  being 
an  entire  stranger  to  him  (I,  having  allowed  Dingfelter 
time  enough  to  have  reached  the  paying-teller's  window, 
entered  the  bank  with  my  check  in  my  hand),  held  the  check 
that  Dingfelter  had  presented,  and  when  he  saw  me  he 
excitedly  motioned  to  me  to  come  to  his  window.  On 
reaching  the  window  Warner  commanded  me,  in  an  excited 


20  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

manner,  to  arrest  that  man,  pointing  to  Dingfelter. 

I   said,  "What  do  you  want  him  arrested  for?" 

Warner,  holding  up  the  check  said,  "Why  he  has  pre- 
sented a  large  fake  check  bearing  the  name  of  Dr.  Smith, 
lor  nearly  twelve  hundred  dollars.  Why,  you  know  Dr. 
Smith's  signature?" 

I  replied,  "Yes,  here  is  one  of  Dr.  Smith's  checks.  I 
know  this  is  genuine,  for  I  saw  the  doctor  sign  it." 

He  compared  the  fake  check  with  mine,  and  I  said  to 
Mr.  Warner,  "While  I  am  not  an  expert  on  hand-writing, 
I  do  not  believe  that  Dr.  Smith  wrote  that  signature." 

Mr.  Warner  exclaimed,  "I  am  positive  he  did  not."  Then 
turning  to  Mr.  Dingfelter  I  asked,  "Where  did  you  get 
this  check?" 

"I  got  it  from  Dr.  Smith,"  was  his  reply. 

"Does  Dr.  Smith  know  you?"     I  asked. 

In  rather  a  grufif  manner  he  answered,  "Yes,  he  knows 
me." 

"Will  you  go  with  me  and  see  Dr.  Smith?"     I  asked. 

"Well,  I  do  not  know  whether  I  will  or  not.  I  don't 
know  who  you  are,"  he  replied.  Wliereupon  I  laid  my 
hand  on  his  shoulder  and  said,  "You  will  either  accompany 
me  to  Dr.  Smith's  office,  or  I  will  send  for  a  patrol'  wagon, 
take   you   to   police   headquarters   and   have  you   locked   up." 

"Are  you  an  officer?"  he  asked. 

To  which  I  replied,  "Yes,  I  am  the  Chief  Special  Agent 
of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  Company." 

"Oh,  well,"  said  he,  "that  is  dift'erent.  I  will  go  with  you 
and  see  Dr.  Smith." 

It  was  drizzling  rain  the  morning  of  this  occurrence,  was 
quite  chilly  and  the  streets  and  sidewalks  were  wet  and 
slippery  and  dirty,  as  the  streets  of  St.  Louis  were  not 
kept  as  clean  at  that  time  as  they  are  now.     I  took  the  fake 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  21 

check  and  Dingfelter  and  myself  started  for  Dr.  Smith's 
office,  which  at  that  time  was  in  the  Missouri  Pacific  gen- 
eral office  building  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Locust 
streets.  We  walked  west  on  Pine  from  Fourth.  When  we 
reached  the  coraer  of  Sixth  and  Pine  streets  I  gave  Ding- 
felter a  signal,  which  had  been  pre-arranged.  This  signal 
was  for  him  to  hit  me  a  good,  stiff  punch,  as  the  fighters 
call  it .  There  was  a  large,  clumsy  patrolman,  wearing  a 
raincoat,  standing  under  an  awning  near  the  corner  saloon- 
I  was  walking  on  the  left-hand  side  of  Dingfelter,  and 
when  I  gave  him  the  signal  he  cut  loose  with  his  right 
hand,  which  landed  just  over  my  right  eye  and  a  little 
back  of  it.  I  had  instructed  him  to  hit  me  hard,  and  if  he 
succeeded  in  knocking  me  down  and  I  became  groggy 
from  the  blow  he  was  to  stumble  and  fall  himself,  so  as 
to  give  the  big,  clumsy  police  officer  time  to  reach  us.  The 
officer  was  standing  about  ten  feet  from  us  when  Ding- 
felter struck  me,  but  I  knew  how  slow  he  was  and  I  wanted 
to  be  sure  and  give  him  an  opportunity  of  getting  hold  of 
Dingfelter.  I  went  down  all  right,  and  in  fact,  was  a  little 
dazed  from  the  effects  of  the  blow.  Dingfelter  stumbled 
and  fell,  and  the  policeman  made  a  dash  (such  as  a 
heavily  loaded  ice  wagon  going  up  hill  would  make)  and  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  him,  not,  however,  until  he  had  arisen,  and  I 
also  had  got  to  my  feet.  He  got  to  Dingfelter  about  th^ 
same  time  that  I  did.  The  latter  made  a  good  fight  and 
tore  off  most  of  the  uniform  of  the  policeman  and  my  coat, 
vest  and  collar.  All  of  us  went  down  in  the  street  and 
rolled  around  in  the  mud.  Our  ears  and  faces  were  filled 
with  mud,  before  we  finally  succeeded  in  subduing  Ding- 
felter. but  I  am  satisfied  if  he  had  tried  his  best  he  coulci 
have  gotton  away  with  both  of  us,  as  he  was  a  powerful 
man. 


22  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

My  office  was  on  Eighth  street,  just  north  of  Pine,  and 
this  fight  occurred  just  two  blocks  from  my  office,  and 
after  we  had  subdued  Dingfelter  I  suggested  that  we  take 
him  there,  so  as  to  give  us  an  opportunity  of  washing 
ourselves  while  we  were  waiting  for  a  patrol  wagon  to 
take  the  prisoner  to  police  headquarters.  This  we  did, 
and  on  arriving  at  my  office  we  turned  the  prisoner  over 
to  my  chief  clerk  and  one  of  my  operatives,  who  hap- 
pened to  be  there,  while  the  policeman  and  myself  begiin 
digging  the  mud  out  of  our  ears  and  washing  our  faces. 
After  washing  I  found  that  my  right  eye  was  very  much 
discolored,  and  where  my  face  had  come  in  contact  with 
the  pavement  there  were  a  number  of  small  cuts  and 
scratches,  which  were  somewhat  inflamed,  and  I  really 
had  a  sore  face. 

The  operative  who  I  have  mentioned  before,  whose 
name  was  Phillips,  on  seeing  my  face  said  to  me,  "Why, 
you  sure  ought  to  go  and  see  a  doctor  at  once.  Your  eye 
is  in  bad  shape,  and  you  need  medical  attention  immedi- 
ately. Let  me  go  up  to  police  headquarters  with  this  fel- 
low.    I  can  attend  to  the  matter  for  you. 

I  thanked  him,  and  said  that  I  wished  he  would  do  so. 
I  told  him  what  had  occurred  at  the  bank,  and  instructed 
him  to  make  a  complaint  against  Dingfelter  accordingly. 
In  due  time  the  patrol  wagon  arrived  and  the  police  officer 
and  Phillips  escorted  Mr.  Dingfelter  to  police  head- 
quarters. At  this  time  Hughie  O'Neil  was  chief  of  de- 
tectives, and  Major  Lawrence  Harrigan,  was  chief  of 
police  for  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 

As  soon  as  Dingfelter  was  hustled  into  the  detectives' 
office  in  the  Four  Courts,  Chief  O'Neil  and  a  squad  of 
his  men  immediately  set  about  searching  him.  They  found 
in  one  of  his  inside  pockets  a  letter,  addressed,  sealed  and 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  23 

stamped,  but  apparently  which  Dingfelter  had  forgotten  to 
mail.  It  was  directed  to  San  Francisco.  They  also  found 
about  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  dollars,  and  some  otUer 
articles,  all  of  which  were  taken  from  him  and  placed  in 
the  police  department  archives  for  safe  keeping.  The  let- 
ter was  eagerly  opened  and  read.  This  letter  was  quite 
lengthy,  and  was  just  such  a  letter  as  one  crook  would 
write  to  another.  There  was  then,  and  had  been  for  some 
tim^  previous,  a  gang  of  bank  swindlers  working  the 
cities  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  the  newspapers  had  been 
printing  a  great  deal  about  the  operations  of  this  gang 
several  weeks  prior  to  the  time  of  which  I  write;  and  for 
this  reason  the  detectives  of  St.  Louis  were  led  to  believe 
by  the  finding  of  the  letter  that  they  had  struck  something 
which  might  lead  to  the  capture  of  the  bank  swindlers. 
The  contents  of  the  letter  appeared  in  the  afternoon  papers. 
Some  of  these  papers  censured  me  for  having  failed  to 
discover  this  letter. 

After  reading  the  comments  of  the  papers  regarding 
this  letter,  I  would  have  considered  myself  very  stupid, 
indeed,  for  having  missed  the  letter,  were  it  not  for  the 
fact  that  I  knew  that  I  had  not  had  an  opportunity  to  search 
Mr.  Dinglefter  up  to  the  time  he  assaulted  me  and  the 
officer  on  Pine  street,  and  then  I  also  knew  it  had  taken 
me  about  two  hours  to  compose  and  dictate  that  same 
letter. 

Dingfelter  was  locked  up,  of  course,  and  the  time  was 
set  for  his  preliminary  hearing,  to  be  several  days  later. 
In  the  meantime  the  St.  Louis  papers  were  devoting  lots 
of  space  to  Dingfelter  and  his  alleged  crime;  a  relief  to 
the  newspaper  readers,  as  they  had  begun  to  grow  tired 
of  reading  day  after  day  about  Maxwell  and  what  his 
altorneys    expected   to    do    for   him.      From   the   time   of 


24  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Dingfelter's  arrest  up  to  the  time  of  Maxwell's  trial,  the 
newspapers  scarcely  mentioned  the  latter's  name.  Some 
of  them  occasionall}^  mentioned  my  name  in  rather  a  jok- 
ing manner,  because  I  had  been  stupid  enough  to  miss 
that  letter.  When  Dingfelter  was  called  for  his  prelimi- 
nary hearing  he  was  promptly  remanded  to  jail  to  await 
the  action  of  the  Grand  Jury. 

He  was  besieged  by  lawyers  who  were  anxious  to  de- 
fend him,  but  he  declined  their  offers,  telling  them  when 
the  time  came  he  had  lawyers  selected  to  defend  him,  and 
steadfastly  refused  to  divulge  their  names.  The  second 
day  after  his  arrest  Dingfelter  was  allowed  to  mingle  with 
the  other  prisoners  in  what  was  called  the  "bull  ring." 
An  allotted  time  is  given  to  the  prisoners  each  day  in  this 
place  for  exercise.  Maxwell  noticed  that  almost  immedi- 
ately after  his  arrest  the  newspapers  were  giving  Ding- 
felter all  the  notoriety,  and  had  dropped  himself,  so  he 
hastened  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  one  so  notorious 
when  they  met  in  the  "bull  ring."  This  was  the  only  op- 
portunity of  meeting  him,  and  from  the  first  time  that  Max- 
well saw  Dingfelter  he  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  talk- 
ing with  him,  and  he  stuck  to  Dingfelter  like  the  prover- 
bial fly  to  the  horse.  The  first  time  Maxwell  approached 
Dingfelter  he  rushed  up  to  him  and  said,  "You  are  Ding- 
felter, I  believe."  Dingfelter  replied  that  he  was  and 
Maxwell  then  said,  "They  seem  to  have  a  strong  case 
against  you."  "You  will  have  to  excuse  me,  sir,  I  don't 
want  to  be  considered  impolite,"  Dingfelter  replied,  "but 
I  must  decline  to  talk  to  any  one  in  this  place  about  ni}^ 
case,  as  you  call  it.  I  don't  believe  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  for  me  or  any  other  person  to  talk  about  a  charge 
that  is  pending  against  them  in  a  place  of  this  kind.  I 
shall  be  glad  to  talk  with  you  on  any  other  subject,  hoAv- 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  25 

ever,  but  I  trust  that  you  will  hereafter  refrain  from  asking 
me  any  questions  regarding  tiie  charge  nuw  pending 
against  me  in  court,  and  then,  I  don't  know  you." 

Maxwell  hastily  said,  "Oh,  I  am  Maxwell.  I  am  the 
fellow  who  is  charged  with  the  murder  of  that  man  Prel- 
ler,  who  was  killed  in  the  Southern  Hotel,  and  whose 
body  was  found  in  a  trunk.  I  was  arrested  at  Aucklandj 
New  Zealand,  and  1)rought  back  here  to  St.  Louis  to  stand 
trial,  but  I  have  been  assured  by  my  attorneys  that  I  will 
be  acquitted.  They  have  no  proof  against  me,  and  just 
as  soon  as  I  can  get  a  trial,  why,  of  course,  I  will  go  free." 

"So  you  are  Maxwell"  said  Dingfelter.  "I  have  been 
reading  in  the  papers  about  you,  and  if  you  will  pardon 
me  for  saying  it,  it  seems  to  me  that  you  have  already  been 
talking  too  much  about  your  case.  If  you  are  not  guilty  of 
the  crime  with  which  you  stand  charged,  why  you  ought 
to  be  acquitted,  and  I  hope  you  will  be." 

After  this  first  interview  between  Maxwell  and  Ding- 
felter, he  and  many  other  prisoners  looked  upon  Ding- 
felter as  being  a  wise  and  unusually  smart  prisoner.  Ding- 
felter was  in  jail  forty-seven  days,  and  during  all  that 
time  Maxwell  never  let  an  opportunity  pass  without  talk- 
ing to  him.  I  received  daily  reports  from  my  operative, 
a  task  which  I  found  very  difficult,  and  it  became  more 
difficult  by  reason  of  the  Southwestern  Railroad  strike, 
which  broke  out  on  March  4,  1886,  and  continued  during 
Dingfelter's  stay  in  the  St.  Louis  jail.  Being  Chief  Special 
Agent  for  the  Gould  system,  my  time  was  occupied  in  pro- 
tecting the  railroad  company's  property,  and  in  appre- 
hending people  who  were  continually  committing  illegal 
acts.     I  was  occupied  almost  day  and  night  in  this  work. 

From  Dingfelter's  daily  reports  I  learned  that  MaxwelT 
had  admitted  that  he  had  killed  Preller  for  the  purpose  of 


26  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

obtaining  seven  one  hundred  dollar  bills  that  he  knew 
Preller  to  have,  as  he  had  shown  him  the  money  in  the 
Adams  House  at  Boston,  before  they  separated  there.  He 
also  had  pawned  the  plunder  for  the  money  which  had 
brought  him  to  America,  and  that  he  had  made  Preller 
believe  that  he  was  connected  with  the  titled  family  of 
Maxwell,  that  his  right  name  was  Hugh  M.  Brookes,  and 
that  he  would  like  to  place  himself  under  the  guidance  and 
advice  of  an  able  crook,  as  he  believed  Dingfelter  to  be, 
when  he  gained  his  liberty,  as  he  was  sure  he  would,  in  the 
near  future.  He  told  Dingfelter  in  detail  how  he  had 
killed  Preller  by  administering  an  overdose  of  morphia, 
hypodermically ;  of  how,  after  dinner  on  the  fatal  Sunday, 
Preller  had  complained  of  a  pain  in  his  stomach ;  that  he. 
Maxwell,  saw  that  was  his  opportunity  for  carrying  out 
the  plan  he  had  already  formed  for  taking  Preller's  life  in 
order  to  secure  the  money ;  that  he  had  provided  himself 
with  a  large  quantity  of  morphia  and  the  hypodermic 
syringe,  and  that  he  had  also  procured  four  ounces  of 
chloroform,  for  the  purpose  of  administering  it  to  Preller 
immediately  before  death,  to  prevent  the  body  from  be- 
coming rigid,  as  it  does  immediately  after  death,  "as," 
said  Maxwell  in  his  explanation  to  Dingfelter,  "I  had  to 
conceal  his  long  body  in  the  trunk,  which  was  so  much 
shorter,  and  I  did  not  want  to  cut  ofif  his  limbs,  fearing  that 
the  trace  of  the  blood  would  betray  me." 

On  receiving  Dingfelter's  report  relative  to  the  use  of 
the  morphia  in  the  murder,  I  at  once  reported  the  fact  to 
Messrs.  Clover  and  McDonald,  who  immediately  arranged 
with  two  of  the  most  prominent  doctors  in  St.  Louis  to 
examine  the  body  of  Preller  for  traces  of  the  morhpia. 
Messrs.  Clover,  McDonald,  the  doctors,  an  official  of  Belle- 
fontaine    Cemetery,    and    myself,    went    to    the    cemetery. 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  27 

where  Preller's  body  had  been  buried,  exhumed  the  body, 
and  the  doctors  made  the  necessary  examination,  keeping 
what  they  discovered  to  themselves,  and  they  did  not 
divulge  anything  about  it  until  called  on  to  testify  at  Max- 
well's trial,  when  they  said  that  the  traces  of  the  hypo- 
dermic syringe  were  plainly  visible  on  the  arm,  and  that 
traces  of  morphia  were  found.  When  Maxwell  was  ar- 
rested a  quantity  of  morphia  was  found  among  his  effects, 
and  also  the  hypodermic  syringe,  but  up  to  this  discovery 
neither  had  been  considered  in  connection  with  the  mur- 
der, as  it  had  been  taken  for  granted  that  Preller's  death 
had  been  caused  by  chloroform.  Of  course,  the  exhuming 
of  the  body,  and  the  arrangement  that  had  been  made 
were  known  to  no  one  but  Messrs.  Clover,  McDonald, 
the  two  doctors,  the  cemetery  official  and  myself,  and  was 
treated  as  a  profound  secret. 

Meanwhile,  after  Dingfelter  had  been  in  jail  and  had 
obtained  the  information  we  wanted  from  Maxwell,  I  de- 
cided that  it  was  unnecessary  to  keep  him  there  longer, 
so  I  arranged  to  have  Dingfelter  released  on  bail,  which 
had  been  fixed  at  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  I 
had  ex-Judge  Henry  D.  Laughlin,  of  St.  Louis,  sign  Ding- 
felter's  bond.  I  did  this  without  Judge  Laughlin's  knowl- 
edge that  I  even  knew  who  Dingfelter  was.  Upon  his  re- 
lease I  immediately  sent  him  to  New  York,  where  he  en- 
tered into  correspondence  with  friends  of  Maxwell's.  Just 
before  being  released  he  asked  Maxwell  if  he  could  keep  a 
secret,  and  Maxwell  said  that  he  could,  whereupon  Ding- 
felter said : 

"I  expect  to  leave  this  place  soon." 

"How  are  you  going  to  get  out?"  asked  Maxwell. 

"Ah,"  said  Dingfelter,  "that  is  none  of  your  business. 
You  said  you  could  keep  a  secret,  and  the  first  thing  you 


28  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

are  doing  is  to  pry  into  my  business  by  asking  how  I  am 
going  to  get  out.  After  I  am  gone  from  here,  of  course, 
you  will  know  it,  but  if  }ou  do  not  know  how  I  propose 
to  get  out  it  will  be  impossible  for  you  to  tell  any  one 
about  it.  For  that  reason  it  is  better  that  you  should  not 
know  anything  further  than  what  I  have  already  said." 

Maxwell  apologized  and  promised  not  to  be  so  inquisi- 
tive again.     Dingfelter  then  said  : 

"Now,  Maxwell,  after  I  am  on  the  outside  and  away  from 
this  place,  if  I  can  do  anything  for  you  consistently  I  shall 
be  glad  to  do  it." 

"You  can  do  a  whole  lot  for  me,"  Maxwell  answered, 
"by  getting  two  of  your  friends  to  come  here  when  my 
trial  is  called  and  have  them  testify  that  they  met  Preller 
and  myself  in  Boston,  and  that  they  accompanied  us  to 
the  depot  when  we  were  leaving  Boston ;  that  at  the  depot 
I  proposed  that  the  party  take  a  parting  drink ;  that  Prel- 
ler, these  two  men  and  myself,  went  to  a  cafe,  and  that  I 
ordered  two  bottles  of  champagne,  and  that  when  I  paid 
for  it  I  displayed  a  roll  of  seven  one  hundred  dollar  l^ills ; 
that  I  explained  that  I  wanted  to  change  one  of  these 
hundred  dollar  bills  so  that  I  might  have  some  smaller 
change  to  pay  expenses  on  my  way  to  St.  Louis.  If  they 
will  testify  to  this  it  will  account  for  the  six  one  hundred 
dollar  bills  I  took  from  Preller." 

Dingfelter  asked,  "Are  you  sure  that  your  lawyers  will 
not  get  these  friends  of  mine  into  trouble  or  let  the  police 
get  next  to  them  if  I  can  get  them  to  come?" 

Maxwell  assured  Dingfelter  that  his  friends  would  be 
perfectly  safe  in  coming  to  St.  Louis,  and  that  the  police 
would  not  get  next  to  them,  providing,  of  course,  that  the 
parties  were  not  already  known  to  the  police.  He  took 
a  card  bearing  his  name  from  his  pocket  and  tore  it  in 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  29 

two  halves,  giving  one  half  to  Dingfelter  and  retaining 
the  other  himself,  saying,  "Be  sure  and  give  these  witnesses 
half  of  the  card,  which  will  serve  to  identify  them  to  my 
attorneys  when  they  arrive  here,  as  that  half  of  the  card 
will  match  the  half  that  I  will  retain,  the  edges  of  the 
torn  card  will  match  and  will  answer  the  purpose  of  an 
introduction." 

It  was  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  Ding- 
felter was  released  from  jail  on  bond,  and  at  that  hour 
the  courts  in  the  building  had  adjourned  for  the  day,  and 
the  newspaper  correspondents  and  all  others  had  left 
the  building  except  the  few  attaches  who  were  on  duty. 
Thus  Dingfelter  left  the  jail  unobserved.  On  his  release 
from  the  jail  he  came  to  my  house  by  a  circuitous  route, 
where  he  remained  until  a  late  hour  that  night,  when  he 
left  to  take  a  train  for  New  York.  I  instructed  him  to  open 
a  correspondence  with  Maxwell  on  his  arrival  in  New 
York,  so  as  to  get  positive  instructions  from  Maxwell  as 
to  what  the  witnesses  were  to  testify  to  when  they 
appeared  on  the  stand  in  his  defense.  He  carried  out 
these  instructions  to  the  letter.  His  letters  reached  Max- 
well through  his  attorneys,  and  Maxwell's  letters  reached 
him  through  the  same  source,  and  in  due  time,  all  the  let- 
ters were  sent  to  me  with  his  report.  They  kept  up  this 
correspondence  at  intervals  until  Maxwell's  trial  was 
called.  I  told  Dingfelter  to  appear  in  St.  Louis  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  trial,  which  he  did.  On  arriving  here  he  went 
to  a  private  lodging  house,  and  being  a  stranger  in  the 
city,  his  presence  was  unknown  to  any  person  but  him- 
self and  the  circuit  attorneys,  Clover  and  McDonald. 

When  his  trial  was  called.  Maxwell  took  the  stand  in 
his  own  defense,  and  testified  that  he  had  administered 
chloroform  to  his  friend  Preller  on  the  fatal  evening  at  the 


30  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Southern  Hotel  for  the  purpose  of  allaying  the  pain  that 
he  was  suffering  from,  as  both  Messrs.  Clover  and  Mc- 
Donald had  predicted  he  would  testify.  Maxwell  went 
on  to  state  that  Preller's  suffering  was  caused  by  an  acute 
attack  of  stricture,  from  which  he  had  been  suffering  more 
or  less  for  some  time. 

On  hearing  this  testimony  from  Maxwell,  it  was  de- 
cided to  again  exhume  the  body  of  Preller  so  that  the  two 
doctors  could  make  another  examination  of  the  remains, 
and  either  corroborate  or  disprove  Maxwell's  testimony, 
as  this  was  one  of  the  most  vital  points  in  the  trial.  When 
the  body  was  exhumed  the  doctors  removed  the  organs, 
taking  them  to  their  laboratory,  where  the  examination 
was  made,  and  they  later  came  into  court  and  testified  that 
their  examination  had  shown  beyond  a  doubt  that  Preller 
had  never  suffered  from  stricture. 

Frank  Dingfelter  was  among  the  first  witnesses  called 
by  the  prosecution.  In  answer  to  his  name,  he  entered 
the  court  room  from  the  private  office  of  the  circuit  at- 
torney, and  after  being  duly  sworn,  took  his  seat  on  the 
witness  stand.  After  sitting  down  he  turned  his  face 
towards  Attorney  McDonald,  who  was  conducting  Ihe 
prosecution  for  the  state.  Maxwell  got  a  full  view  of  Ding- 
felter for  the  first  time  since  he  had  seen  him  in  the  jail. 
From  where  I  was  sitting  I  could  get  a  good  view  of  Max- 
well's countenance.  I  was  watching  him  closely,  and  when 
he  saw  Dingfelter  he  recognized  him  instantly.  He  turned 
ashy  pale  and  nearly  fainted,  and  would  have  fallen  out  of 
his  chair  were  it  not  that  he  was  partly  supported  by  one 
of  his  attorneys  who  was  sitting  beside  him.  He  hurried- 
ly communicated  to  his  attorney  that  he  had  recognized 
Dingfelter,  whereupon  the  attorneys  for  the  defense  be- 
came very  much  excited.     Dingfelter  was  asked  by  Attor- 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  31 

ney  McDonald  the  following  questions : 

Question:  What  is  your  name?  A.  John  F.  McCul- 
loch. 

Q.  Where  were  you  born?     A.  Wilmington,  Delaware. 

Q.  How  old  are  you?     A.  Thirty  years. 

Q.  What  is  your  business?    A.  Detective. 

Q.  By  whom  are  you  employed?    A.  Thomas  Furlong. 

Q.  Do  you  know  the  defendant  in  this  case  (pointing 
to  Maxwell)  ?   A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q,  Where  did  you  first  become  acquainted  with  him? 
A,  In  the  city  jail. 

Q.  Were  you  a  prisoner  in  the  jail?    A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  were  you  charged  with?  A.  I  believe  it  was 
forgery. 

Q.  When  and  where  were  you  arrested?  A.  I  was  ar- 
rested at  the  Mechanics  Bank  on  the  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Pine  streets,  this  city,  by  Thomas  Furlong,  who  was  af- 
terwards assisted  by  a  police  officer,  whose  name  I  do  not 
know. 

Q,  Why  did  Furlong  arrest  you?  A.  He  was  command- 
ed to  do  so  by  the  paying  teller  of  the  Mechanics  Bank. 

Q.  Why  did  the  teller  cause  your  arrest?  A.  Because  I 
presented  a  check  bearing  what  purported  to  be  the  signa- 
ture of  D.  S.  H.  Smith,  local  treasurer  of  the  Missouri  Pa- 
cific Railroad  Company.  The  paying  teller  told  Furlong, 
in  my  presence,  that  the  signature  was  a  forgery. 

Q.  Did  you  know  it  to  be  a  forgery?    A.  I  did  not. 

Q.  Where  did  you  get  this  check?  A.  Mr,  Furlong 
gave  me  the  check  and  instructed  me  to  present  it  at  the 
bank,  as  I  did,  and  told  me  that  he  would  be  at  the  bank 
when  I  presented  it. 

Q.  Was  Mr.  Furlong  there?  A,  Yes,  he  came  into  the 
bank  while  I  was  at  the  teller's  window.     That  was  when 


32  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Mr.  Warner,  as  I  believe  the  teller's  name  is,  told  him  to 
arrest  me. 

Q.  Then  you  do  not  know  whether  the  check  was  a 
forgery  or  not?  A.  No,  sir.  I  was  only  obeying  the  in- 
structions of  my  employer,  Mr.  Furlong.  I  guess  he  can 
tell  you  all  about  that  check. 

The  court  room  was  crowded,  and  as  soon  as  Dingfelter 
stated  that  he  was  a  detective  one  of  the  city  detectives 
rushed  out  of  the  court,  pellmell,  to  the  office  of  the  Chief 
of  Police,  which  was  in  the  opposite  end  of  the  building, 
and  informed  the  Chief  of  what  had  occurred.  The  Chief 
rushed  into  the  court  room,  and  from  that  time  on  con- 
sternation seemed  to  prevail  among  all  the  authorities 
around  the  Four  Courts  building. 

Dingfelter  was  kept  upon  the  witness  stand  for  about  two 
days,  and  during  his  entire  direct  testimony,  nearly  every 
question  asked  him  b}'^  the  prosecuting  attorney  was  ob- 
jected to  by  the  attorneys  for  the  defense.  After  McCul- 
loch,  as  I  will  call  him  by  his  right  name  hereafter,  had 
been  excused  from  the  witness  stand,  I  was  called.  After 
being  duly  sworn  and  the  preliminary  questions  asked,  I 
was  told,  by  the  prosecuting  attorney,  to  state  to  the 
court  and  jury  how  I  had  been  approached  by  Mr.  Clover 
and  himself,  and  what  I  had  done  in  connection  with  the 
case.  I  gave  a  detailed  account  of  my  work  from  the  start 
up  to  that  moment,  being  interrupted  occasionally  by  an  ob- 
jection from  the  defendant's  counsel.  When  I  had  finished 
my  direct  testimony,  all  of  which  has  already  been  related, 
the  counsel  for  the  defense  began,  to  cross-examine  me. 
My  cross-examination  consumed  nearly  a  day  and  a  half. 

The  defendant's  counsel  first  wanted  to  know  how  long 
I  had  been  in  the  detective  business.  I  answered  that  1 
had   first   become   engaged   in   the   business   in   September, 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  33 

1862.  The  attorney  said,  "Then  you  have  had  a  great  deal 
of  experience?"  I  answered  that  I  had,  and  then  he  said, 
"Where  did  you  get  this  check?"  exhibiting  the  check  in 
question.  I  asked  permission  to  examine  the  check,  which 
was  granted  by  the  court,  and  after  looking  at  it  carefully 
I  answered,  "This  is  one  of  the  blank  checks  that  I  took 
from  Dr.  Smith's  office  in  the  manner  already  described." 

Question :  Then  you  stole  this  check  from  Dr.  Smith's 
office?  A.  I  took  that  blank  check  from  Dr.  Smith's  office 
without  his  knowledge  or  consent. 

Q,  Who  tilled  out  this  check  and  signed  Dr.  Smith's 
name  to  it  ?  A.  That  check  was  filled  out  by  one  of  my  em- 
ployes. I  stood  alongside  of  him  while  he  filled  it  out.  He 
did  it  under  my  instructions,  and  if  he  had  refused  to  do 
it  I  would  have  discharged  him  and  he  knew  it;  and  if  the 
law  has  been  violated  in  any  way  I  am  responsible  for  it. 

The  attorney  for  the  defense  insisted  that  I  give  the 
name  of  the  person  who  filled  out  the  check,  but  the  court 
overruled  the  question  on  the  ground  that  I  had  assumed 
the  responsibility.  The  counsel  for  the  defense  then  said, 
"You  kuow  that  you  were  violating  the  law  by  having  this 
check  made  out  as  you  did,  did  you  not?" 

I  replied,  "Under  certain  conditions,  it  might  have  been 
a  violation  of  the  law." 

Counsel  for  the  defense  asked,  "You  know  that  it  was  a 
forgery  and  forgery  is  a  crime  under  the  law?"  My  an- 
swer was  the  same  as  before,  that  it  would  have  been  for- 
gery under  certain  conditions.  But  he  insisted  on  me  an- 
swering him  direct  "yes"  or  "no."  At  this  Prosecuting  At- 
torney McDonald  appealed  to  the  court,  stating  that  the 
witness  could  not  answer  the  question  with  a  direct  "yes" 
or  "no"  unless  permitted  to  explain  what  the  certain  con- 
ditions referred  to  were.     The  court  permitted  me  to  ex- 


34  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

plain  under  what  conditions  the  making  of  the  check  would 
not  be  considered  forgery.  To  which  I  replied  that  inas- 
much as  that  intent  is  the  essence  of  crime,  and  that  as  there 
was  no  intent  to  obtain  money  or  other  valuables  by  means 
of  this  check  on  my  part,  who  was  responsible  for  the  mak- 
ing of  it,  and  that  I  was  at  the  bank  on  the  morning  that 
McCulloch  presented  the  check  for  the  purpose  of  prevent- 
ing the  teller  from  cashing  the  check,  if  he,  perchance,  had 
not  noticed  that  the  signature  of  Dr.  Smith  was  not  genu- 
ine, and  for  the  further  reason  that  I  had  promptly  appre- 
hended the  man  who  had  presented  the  check  at  the  bank 
for  having  done  so.    This  was  all  a  matter  of  court  record. 

Here  I  wish  to  say  that  almost  every  person  in  the  court- 
room, after  hearing  my  testimony  as  to  my  obtaining  the 
blank  checks  and  causing  one  to  be  filled  out  and  presented 
at  the  bank,  were  of  the  opinion  that  I  had  gotten  myself 
into  serious  trouble.  Many  clung  to  that  opinion  until 
they  heard  my  explanation,  and  the  competent  court  at- 
torneys saw  at  a  glance  that  I  was  safe  when  I  explained 
that  intent  was  what  consitituted  a  crime. 

I  have  been  asked  many,  many  times  since  the  arrest  of 
McCulloch  and  my  tussle  with  him,  why  I  caused  him  to 
knock  me  dewn  and  to  strip  the  policeman  and  myself, 
leaving  us  in  almost  a  nude  condition,  and  which  com- 
pelled me  to  go  around  several  days  with  my  right  eye 
and  one  side  of  my  face  discolored — as  some  of  them  said, 
"in  mourning" — and  my  answer  has  always  been  that  I  had 
decided  everything  I  did  in  connection  with  the  case  was 
absolutely  necessary  so  that  I  might  obtain  the  true  facts 
of  the  case,  which  were  very  essential  for  the  proper  prose- 
cution of  the  perpetrator  of  this  heinous  crime,  as  he  was 
the  only  living  person  who  knew  the  real  facts.  I  knew 
that  Maxwell  was  enjoying  the  notoriety  the  newspapers 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  35 

were  giving  him,  and  I  also  knew  tiiat  the  public  was  grow- 
ing tired  of  reading  about  him,  and,  therefore,  believed  that 
if  I  could  paint  my  operative  as  a  more  desperate  criminal 
for  the  time  being,  by  the  notoriety  he  would  obtain  through 
the  papers,  it  would  have  the  effect  of  attracting  Maxwell's 
attention  to  him,  so  that  he  might  bask  in  the  light  that  was 
being  attracted  to  McCulloch.  And,  as  it  turned  out,  my 
predictions  proved  true.  I  deemed  it  necessary  to  have 
McCulloch  slug  me  and  make  the  fight  that  he  did  with  the 
police  officer  and  myself  in  order  to  allay  any  suspicion  that 
might  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  Chief  of  Police  or  any  of  his 
men.  The  Chief  was  an  alert  and  experienced  officer,  and 
if  he  suspected  for  a  moment  that  McCulloch  was  not  what 
he  represented  himself  to  be,  or  that  he  was  connected  with 
me,  he  would  have  undoubtedly  exposed  our  scheme,  and 
thereby  destroyed  our  efforts,  which  were  for  the  honest 
purpose  of  serving  the  ends  of  justice. 

Both  McCulloch  and  myself  were  acting  parts,  and  from 
the  result  it  seems  that  the  parts  were  acted  well.  I  could 
have  gotten  the  blank  check  from  Dr.  Smith,  I  have  no 
doubt,  merely  by  asking  for  it,  but  he,  of  course  would  have 
wanted  an  explanation  from  me,  and  if  I  had  explained 
why  I  wanted  them  he  would  have  been  obliged  to  state 
the  facts  on  the  witness  stand  when  called  before  the  Grand 
Jury,  and  this  would  have  been  fatal  to  my  scheme.  Had 
I  told  my  operative  Phillips,  who  lodged  the  first  com- 
plaint against  McCulloch,  or  Dingfelter,  as  he  called  him- 
self, he  would  have  been  compelled,  under  oath,  to  have 
stated  the  truth.  This,  too,  would  have  been  fatal.  My 
keeping  the  matter  a  secret,  resulted  in  every  person  tell- 
ing the  truth,  or  what  they  believed  to  be  the  truth.  I  my- 
self, did  no  appear  either  at  police  headquarters  or  at  the 
preliminary  hearing,  nor  before  the  Grand  Jury,  and  was 


36  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

not  called  upon  to  testify  until  Maxwell  was  on  trial. 

Marshall  F.  McDonald  was  sitting  in  his  office  one  day 
alone,  about  a  month  after  Dingfelter  had  been  in  jail 
and  had  made  such  good  progress  with  Maxwell,  when  Wil- 
liam Marion  Reedy,  better  known  then  as  Billy  Reedy,  en- 
tered his  office.  Reedy  was,  at  that  time,  a  reporter  for 
the  Globe-Democrat,  and  was  very  popular.  He  knew  ev- 
ery official  around  the  Four  Courts  and  in  fact,  every  man 
in  St.  Louis  who  was  worth  knowing.  He  was  a  warm 
friend  and  great  admirer  of  Mr.  McDonald,  and  on  enter- 
ing his  office  and  noting  that  he  was  alone,  he  said,  "Mac, 
why  don't  you  select  the  riglit  kind  of  a  fellow  and  have 
him  locked  up  in  Jail  with  Maxwell.  He  might  succeed 
in  getting  the  facts  as  to  Preller's  murder  from  him." 

Mr,  McDonald  was  startled  to  hear  this  suggestion  from 
Mr.  Reedy,  but,  being  a  man  of  steady  nerves,  he  managed 
to  conceal  his  surprise.  He  told  Reedy  that  he  did  not  be- 
lieve that  anything  could  be  accomplished  by  locking  a 
man  up  in  jail  for  that  purpose.  "For,"  said  Mac,  "there 
are  nearly  four  hundred  prisoners  in  that  jail  and  a  man 
might  be  there  for  months  before  he  could  get  to  Maxwell, 
and  then  it  is  quite  likely  that 'his  attorneys  have  already  ad- 
vised him  not  to  talk  to  any  person  about  his  case." 

Reedy  said,  "It  occurred  to  me  that  it  might  be  a  good 
thing  to  do,  and  I  therefore  made  the  suggestion  to  you 
for  what  it  is  worth,  but, .  as  you  do  not  think  it  worth 
while  to  try  it,  just  let  it  go." 

He  left  the  office,  and  just  as  soon  as  McDonald  could 
don  his  hat  and  coat  and  leave  his  office  unobserved,  he 
hastened  to  me.  I  saw  at  a  glance  that  he  was  excited  and 
believed  something  unusual  had  happened.  I  greeted  him 
and  asked  him  to  be  seated,  and  then  said,  "Mac,  what  is 
the   matter?"     He   extended   his   long-   rig-ht    arm    and    ex- 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  37 

claimed,  "Why,  the  whole  thing  is  up." 

"What's  up?"  I  asked,  "Mac,  what  do  you  mean?" 

"Why,  Billy  Reedy  came  into  my  office  a  little  while  ago 
and  suggested  that  I  pick  out  the  right  kind  of  a  fellow  and 
have  him  locked  up  in  jail  so  that  he  might  work  on  Max- 
well," he  said. 

"Is  that  all  Reedy  said?"  I  asked. 

He  then  went  on  and  detailed  as  nearly  as  he  could  rec- 
ollect just  what  Reedy  had  said.  I  asked  him  what  he  had 
said  to  Reedy  and  he  told  me.  I  then  said,  "Do  you  think 
that  Reedy  noticed  your  excitement  when  he  made  the 
suggestion  to  you?" 

"No,  he  could  not  have,"  he  replied,  "I  was  not  excited, 
I  never  get  excited.'' 

"You  were  excited  when  you  came  in  here,  and  if  Billy 
Reedy  noticed  it  when  he  made  that  suggestion  it  might 
set  him  to  thinking,  and  inasmuch  as  you  did  not  take 
kindly  to  the  suggestion,  he  might  possibly  make  the  sug- 
gestion to  Chief  Harrigan,"  I  said. 

"Oh,  no,"  replied  Mac,  "Billy  would  not  make  any  sug- 
gestions to  the  chief.  He  is  my  friend  and  I  appreciate 
the  feeling  that  prompted  him  to  make  the  suggestion,  but 
confound  it,  I  wish  he  had  not  thought  of  it." 

I  said,  "Mac,  we  know  that  Billy  Reedy  is  a  bright 
young  fellow,  and  a  great  news  gatherer,  and  a  loyal  friend 
of  yours.  I  do  not  believe  he  will  say  anything  more  about 
it,  and  now  I  think  the  best  thing  to  do  is  to  quietly  await 
developments." 

My  advice  was  followed,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  Wil- 
liam Marion  Reedy,  who  is  now  proprietor  and  editor  of 
the  St.  Louis  Mirror,  has  ever  known  just  how  much  that 
friendly  suggestion  of  his  worried  his  friend  Marshall  F. 
McDonald.     I  have  told  in  my  story  how  McCulloch  re- 


38  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

mained  in  jail  and  got  the  facts  from  Maxwell,  and  our 
scheme  was  not  spoiled  by  Mr.  Reedy 's  suggestion,  for  he 
never  repeated  it  to  any  other  person. 

The  testimony  at  the  trial  was  overwhelming  against 
Maxwell,  and  the  jur}'  before  whom  this  case  was  tried 
quickly  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first 
degree,  and  Hugh  M.  Brookes,  alias  Maxwell,  was  hung 
for  one  of  the  most  cold-blooded  murders  of  the  age. 

The  St.  Louis  police  department  had  an  exhibit  in  the 
Educational  Building  during  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Ex- 
position, St.  Louis,  which  consisted  of  photographs  and 
police  records  of  criminals,  burglars,  tools  and  various  weap- 
ons. This  exhibit  also  had  the  noose  with  which  Brookes, 
alias  Maxwell,  was  hung,  and  his  photograph  and  the  pic- 
ture of  the  two  St.  Louis  officers  who  brought  him  back 
from  Auckland,  New  Zealand.  There  were  thousands  of 
people  who  viewed  this  exhibit,  and  I  deem  it  proper  to 
tell  the  public  that  the  police  department  had  positively 
nothing  to  do  with  obtaining  the  evidence  that  convicted 
Maxwell.  They  had  really  nothing  to  do  with  his  arrest, 
other  than  sending  out  his  description.  He  was  arrested 
through  the  efforts  of  CapL  Leas,  Chief  of  Police  of  San 
Francisco,  Cal.  His  conviction  w^as  due  to  my  efforts  and 
the  work  of  my  operative,  McCulloch,  and  to  Messrs.  Clover 
and  McDonald.  Mr.  Clover  paid  the  expenses  from  his 
own  pocket  and  Mr.  McDonald  deserved  a  great  deal 
more  credit  that  he  was  accorded  for  the  masterful  way  in 
which  he  handled  the  prosecution,  but  not  one  of  these 
names  were  mentioned  in  the  exhibit  at  the  World's 
Fair.  Mr.  Clover  paid  about  six  hundred  dollars  out  of 
his  own  personal  funds  for  the  expenses  incurred  in  ob- 
taining the  evidence,  and  I  got  a  black  eye  and  a  swollen 
jaw  as  my  compensation. 


THE  PRELLER  MURDER  CASE.  39 

Dingfelter,  while  in  the  jail,  also  made  the  acquaintance 
of  two  brothers  by  the  name  of  Johnston,  who  had  been 
arrested  in  New  Orleans  and  brought  to  St.  Louis  for 
safe  keeping  by  the  United  States  authorities,  on  the 
charge  of  having  had  a  large  number  of  Brazilian  bonds 
printed.  These  bonds  were  counterfeit,  utterly  worthless 
to  any  one  who  purchased  them.  The  government  secret 
service  had  captured  a  lot  of  these  spurious  bonds  and 
had  brought  the  prisoners  to  St.  Louis  until  they  could 
be  tried  in  the  Federal  Court. 

The  Johnstons  took  a  liking  to  Dingfelter  and  told  hirr> 
all  about  their  scheme,  where  they  had  gotten  the  print- 
ing done,  by  whom,  and  all  the  other  facts  of  their  crime. 
Dingfelter  did  not  solicit  any  confidences,  but  they,  sup- 
posing him  to  be  a  shrewd  crook,  thought  their  secret 
was  safe,  until  Maxwell  was  on  trial  and  Dingfelter,  as 
he  was  known  to  them,  took  the  stand  and  testified,  giving 
his  right  name,  John  F.  McCulloch,  and  his  business,  that 
of  a  detective.  As  soon  as  the  Johnston  brothers  learned 
who  and  what  Dingfelter  was,  they  sent  word  to  the  United 
States  authorities  that  they  had  admitted  to  Detective 
Dingfelter  everything  pertaining  to  their  guilt,  and  they 
were  willing  to  plead  guilty  to  the  charges  pending  against 
them  in  the  Federal  Court.  This  they  did  when  they  were 
arraigned  for  trial. , 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE. 

TRAGIC    ENDING    OF    A    BIG   CASE    ON    WHICH   A    GREAT    DEAL   OF 
REAL   DETECTIVE    WORK    HAD  BEEN   DONE. 

The  cotton  swindle  occurred  at  Sherman,  Texas,  on  the 
Texas  &  Pacific  Railroad,  early  in  the  fall  of  1883.     It  was 


40  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

in  the  cotton  shipping-  season,  and  Sherman  was  a  point 
from  which  a  very  hirge  amount  of  cotton  Avas  shipped  an- 
nually, it  being  the  principal  shipping  point,  or  noutlet,  for 
one  of  the  largest  cotton  producing  districts  in  the  state. 
For  this  reason  the  eastern  cotton  buyers  and  cotton  mill 
owners  were  represented  by  agents  at  these  shipping 
points.  These  agents  w-ere  really  brokers.  It  was  tlie 
practice  of  these  brokers,  as  soon  as  they  had  purchased 
cotton,  to  have  it  delivered  at  once  to  the  railroad  com- 
pany for  shipment,  when  they  would  receive  from  the  rail- 
road company's  agent  a  bill  of  lading,  setting  forth  the 
number  and  weight  of  each  bale.  This  bill  of  lading,  when 
signed  by  the  railroad  agent,  was  negotiable  at  any  bank 
in  the  cotton  producing  district.  The  bank  would  take  the 
bill  of  lading,  allowing  the  depositor  ninety  per  cent  cash 
on  the  face  value  and  would  hold  ten  per  cent  back  until  the 
exact  value  of  the  cotton  was  ascertained  ])y  the  proper 
officials.  The  practice  of  cashing  these  bills  of  lading  was 
then  general  in  the  cotton-growing  country,  and,  I  pre- 
sume, it  is  at  the  present  time. 

It  was  early  in  the  month  of  January,  1884,  when  I  Avas 
suddenly  called  to  the  office  of  Capt.  C.  G.  Warner,  who 
was  then  General  Auditor  for  the  Gould  Railway  System. 
The  Texas  &:  Pacific  was  one  of  the  many  Gould  lines.  I 
occupied  the  position  of  Chief  Special  Agent  for  that  sys- 
tem. 

On  my  arrival  at  Capt.  Warner's  office,  he  informed  me 
that  he  had  just  received  from  Sherman,  Texas,  a  long 
telegraph  message  from  one  of  his  traveling  auditors, 
which  stated  that  a  large  amount  of  cotton,  which  had  been 
shipped  from  that  station,  had  undoubtedly  been  diverted 
in  transit,  as  the  cotton  had  not  reached  its  proper  desti- 
nation.    Capt.  Warner  instructed  me  to  go  to  Sherman  at 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  41 

once,  where  I  would  find  the  traveling  auditor,  Mr.  Finby, 
and  make  a  thorough  investigation. 

I  left  St.  Louis  on  the  first  train,  and  arrived  at  Sherman 
in  due  time,  where  I  found  Mr.  Finby,  who  informed  me 
that  the  company's  agent,  in  charge  at  Sherman  (whom  I 
will  call  No.  4)  had  left  there  on  the  Saturday  night  pre- 
vious, since  which  time  not  one  word  had  been  heard  from 
him.  Fie  further  stated  that  No.  4  had  told  his  assistant 
on  Saturday  evening,  that  he  was  going  to  take  a  run  down 
to  Galveston  on  personal  business,  and  expected  to  return 
on  the  following  Monday.  It  then  being  Wednesday,  and 
No.  4  not  having  returned,  Air.  Finby  had  become  aroused 
and  wired  the  head  of  his  department  at  St.  Louis,  which 
accounted  for  my  appearance  in  Sherman.  I  at  once  be- 
gan my  investigation,  with  a  view  of  locating  No.  4,  the 
missing  agent.  I  remained  in  and  about  Sherman  several 
days,  during  which  time  the  traveling  auditor  was  busily 
engaged,  with  some  of  his  assistants,  in  auditing  and  try- 
ing to  straighten  out  the  accounts  of  the  station. 

In  the  meantime,  telegraph  messages  of  inquiry  were 
pouring  into  Sherman  from  parties  in  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, Fall  River,  Mass.,  and  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 
These  parties  had  purchased  and  paid  for  large  quantities 
of  cotton,  the  total  amount  aggregating  $121,000,  and  they 
wanted  to  know  why  they  had  not  received  it.  Messages 
of  this  kind  had  been  pouring  into  Sherman  for  a  month  or 
six  v/eeks  prior  to  the  time  Mr.  Finby  had  been  called 
there. 

The  officers  of  the  railroad  became  alarmed,  believing 
irom  the  facts  learned  up  to  this  time,  that  the  cotton  for 
which  the  eastern  l)uyers  were  inquiring,  had  Ijeen  shipped 
and  had  been  diverted,  and  prol)ably  stolen.  If  this  were 
true  the  railroad  conipan\-  would  be  responsible  for  the  loss 


42  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

of  the  cotton  to  the  buyers  and  would  probably  have  to  pay 
additional  damages.  Thus  the  loss  of  this  cotton  was  a  seri- 
ous matter  for  the  company. 

After  I  had  worked  at  Sherman  for  about  ten  days,  as 
hard  and  earnestly  as  I  had  ever  worked  on  a  case  in  my 
life,  I  succeeded  in  obtaining  information  that  led  me  to 
believe  that  there  were  three  other  men  connected  w  ith  No. 
4,  the  missing  agent,  in  this  swindle.  I  had  also  succeeded 
in  locating  the  family  and  friends  of  No.  4,  and  the  other 
three  suspects,  whose  names  I  withhold  for  the  reason  that 
some  of  them  were  connected  with  respectable  families  and 
have  near  relatives  living  today,  who  were  in  no  way  re- 
sponsible for  the  wrong-doing  of  these  men  and  ought  not 
to  be  subjected  to  the  humiliation  which  the  publication 
of  these  names  might  inflict  upon  them. 

During  my  investigation  I  learned  that  one  of  these  men 
(whom  in  mentioning  I  will  call  No.  i)  had  a  brother  liv- 
in  New  Orleans.  (I  will  call  the  other  two  confederates 
No.  2  and  No.  3,  withholding  their  names  for  the  reasons 
I  have  already  given.)  I  had  decided  to  go  to  New  Orleans 
direct  from  Sherman  and  there  quietly  investigate  the 
brother  of  No.  i.  I  had  also  telegraphed  to  my  office  at 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  instructing  George  W.  Herbert,  one  of  my 
assistants,  to  meet  me  in  New  Orleans,  which  he  did. 

We  located  No.  I's  brother  in  New  Orleans  very  easily, 
and  after  I  had  previously  obtained  information  that  No. 
i's  wife  might  be  stopping  temporarily  with  her  brother- 
in-law's  family,  who  were  living  in  a  large  and  rather  pre- 
tentious mansion  in  that  city,  I  began  to  watch  the  man- 
sion for  the  purpose  of  learning,  if  possible,  whether  01 
not  No.  i's  wife  was  staying  there.  I  had  a  photograph  of 
No.  I  and  also  of  his  wife.  She  was  a  beautiful  woman. 
She  was  born  and  raised  in  the  state  of  Tennessee,  where 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  43 

her  mother  and  other  near  relatives  resided. 

I  had  learned  that  a  man  answering  the  description  of 
No.  I  in  all  respects  had  registered  at  the  then  leading  ho- 
tel of  Sherman  under  the  name  of  J.  D.  Dillard,  Jr.  This 
man  had  reached  the  hotel  at  a  late  hour  at  night,  was  as- 
signed to  a  room  and  remained  in  it  all  the  following  day, 
ordering  his  meals  sent  to  the  room,  explaining  to*  the 
hotel  people  that  he  was  ill.  During  the  day  No.  4  called 
at  the  hotel  and  quietly  visited  the  room  occupied  by  Dil- 
lard, where  he  (No.  4)  had  remained  an  hour  or  more.  He 
went  to  Dillard's  room  without  making  any  inquiries  at 
the  office,  merely  consulting  the  register. 

Dillard,  who  was  really  No.  i,  left  his  room  about  mid- 
night the  following  night,  and  took  a  north-bound  train 
from  Sherman.  Nobody  had  seen  the  supposed  Dillard 
during  the  time  of  his  stay  at  Sherman,  except  the  night 
clerk,  who  had  not  noticed  him  particularly  when  he  as- 
signed him  to  his  room,  and  a  chamber-maid,  a  mulatto, 
who  had  charge  of  the  room  of  No.  i,  or  Dillard,  as  he 
called  himself,  had  waited  on  him  while  he  was  there.  She 
had  become  familiar  with  his  features  and  stated  to  me 
that  she  would  know  him  on  sight  any  place.  She  de- 
scribed Dillard  accurately,  after  which  I  exhibited  No,  I's 
photograph.  She  instantly  identified  it  as  a  good  picture 
of  Mr.  Dillard.  This  is  what  caused  me  to  place  No.  I's 
brother's  house  in  New  Orleans  under  surveillance.  I  also 
traced  Dillard  from  Sherman,  Texas,  to  Emporia,  Kansas, 
where  the  photographs  of  himself  and  wife  were  identified 
by  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel  and  the  employes  there,  at 
which  the  Dillards  had  stopped  for  a  period  of  a  month 
prior  to  Dillard's  recent  visit  to  Sherman.  Mrs.  Dillard 
had  remained  at  Emporia  during  her  husband's  absence, 
and  he  joined  her  at  Emporia  on  his  return  from  Sherman, 


44  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

and  they  departed  from  there  immediately  for  parts  un- 
known. I  traced  them  to  Topeka,  Kansas,  where  the  trail 
was  lost. 

My  assistant  and  m}'seli  kept  up  a  steady  watch  on  the 
home  of  the  brother  of  No.  i,  in  New  Orleans,  day  and 
night,  for  about  three  weeks.  We  divided  the  time  into 
eight  hour  v.-atches,  one  of  us  sleeping  while  the  other  was 
on  duty.  It  was  one  of  the  most  diificult  tasks  of  the  kind 
I  had  ever  undertaken,  for  the  reason  that  I  was  personally 
known  to  the  chief  of  police  of  New  Orleans,  who  w^as  a 
friend  of  mine.  I  was  also  known  to  a  number  of  police 
detectives  of  that  city,  and  owing  to  the  prominence  of 
the  family  and  connections  of  No.  i  I  did  not  deem  it  ex- 
pedient to  meet  any  of  the  police  authorities,  as  by  so  doing 
I,  of  course,  would  feel  compelled  to  explain  to  them  the 
cause  of  my  presence  in  their  city.  I  had  no  doubt  that 
some  of  them  would  render  me  all  the  assistance  they 
could,  but  I  vv^as  afraid  that  some  of  them  might  talk 
about  my  presence  in  the  city,  and  the  friends  of  Xo.  i 
might  hear  of  it,  and  thereby  be  the  means  of  hindering 
me  in  my  efforts  to  locate  the  whereabouts  of  No.  i.  For 
this  reason  it  required  more  vigilance  on  my  part  to  keep 
out  of  sight  of  the  police,  who  knew  me,  than  what  I  was 
bestowing  to  the  watching  of  the  house  in  question. 

During  the  long  vigil  many  humorous  incidents  occurred. 
One  morning,  after  wc  had  been  on  watch  several  davs,  I 
hit  upon  a  'plan  to  find  if  there  were  any  women  aljout  the 
big  house,  as  we  had  seen  none  up  to  this  time,  hoping  there- 
by to  locate  the  wife  of  No.  i.  A  few  blocks  down  the  street 
a  couple  of  good-looking  young  Italian  girls  were  pla}^- 
ing  a  hand  organ.  The  instrument  was  a  fine  new  one  and 
of  exceedingly  loud  tone.  I  quietly  bargained  for  their 
services  to  take  up  their  station  in  front  of  the  house  I  was 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  45 

watching,  telling  them  to  play  there  as  long  as  the  police 
would  permit  them.  The  music  and  the  performance  oi 
the  monkeys  brought  several  women  from  the  house  to 
the  veranda,  but  to  my  disappointment,  the  much  wanted 
woman  was  not  among  them.  The  performance  was  re- 
peated several  mornings,  with  the  same  results.  Mrs.  Dil- 
lard  was  not  in  the  house,  as  we  afterwards  learned. 

Meanwhile  the  brother,  a  gentleman  of  leisure,  was  in 
the  habit  of  strolling  each  morning  from  his  house  to  the 
postoffice,  where  he  usually  mailed  several  letters.  He  al- 
ways dropped  these  letters  in  the  general  receptacle,  which 
had  an  opening  in  the  main  corridor  at  least  a  foot  in  length 
and  three  inches  wide,  and  led  to  a  large  box  in  the  base- 
ment below  the  main  floor.  This  box  would  hold  probably 
a  wagon  load  of  letters  and  packages,  and  when  a  letter 
was  dropped  in  this  mass  it  was  almost  impossible  to  find 
it  again. 

No.  I's  brother  was  a  man  middle-aged,  rather  slow  in 
his  movements,  and  very  deliberate  in  everything  that  he 
did.  He  carried  these  letters  in  an  inside  pocket  of  his  dress 
coat,  and  walked  with  a  cane.  He  would  approach  the 
general  mail  box,  placing  his  cane  under  his  left  arm  and 
carefully  removing  his  snug-fitting  glove  from  his  right 
hand,  would  take  the  letters,  consisting  of  three  or  more, 
and  in  an  exasperatingly  deliberate  and  slow  manner  de- 
posit them  in  the  box  with  the  other  mail.  He  would 
watch  them  until  they  had  disappeared  down  the  chute 
and  out  of  sight.  This  operation  was  repeated  by  him 
daily,  except  Sundays,  during  the  three  weeks,  and  wit- 
nessed each  time  by  either  Herbert  or  myself,  and  han 
grown  very  tiresome  to  both  of  us.  Finally  I  concluded  thai 
we  would  prepare  two  letters  and  address  them  to  our- 
selves, stamp  them   properly   and  then  cover  the  back  of 


46  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

each  envelope  with  a  thick  coating  of  mucilage.  Herbert 
was  given  one  of  the  letters,  I  keeping  the  other.  Herbert 
placed  himself  on  one  side  of  the  chute,  while  I  took  my 
position  on  the  other  side,  each  of  us  being  some  distance 
away  from  the  receptacle. 

The  main  corridor  of  the  postoffice,  in  the  forenoon,  was 
generally  crowded  with  people  passing  to  and  fro,  between 
the  hours  of  ten  and  twelve  o'clock;  for  this  reason  we  at- 
tracted no  special  attention.  We  knew  about  the  time  that 
No.  I's  brother  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  postoffice, 
and,  therefore,  we  were  not  kept  waiting  but  a  few  moments 
for  his  appearance.  He  approached  the  mail  box  in  his 
usual  manner,  and  was  as  painfully  deliberate  as  he  had  been 
on  previous  occasions,  and  after  he  had  gone  through  the 
customary  maneuvers,  but  before  he  had  time  to  drop  the 
three  letters  from  his  hand,  Herbert  rushed  up  to  the  recept- 
acle from  the  left  side  and  I  from  the  right,  and  we  both 
reached  out  our  hands  at  the  same  time  with  the  letters  we 
held  having  the  mucilaged  surface,  in  such  a  way  that  they 
came  in  contact  with  the  three  letters  he  had  in  his  hand,  and 
forcing  the  letters  into  the  chute  with  ours,  the  mucilage 
sticking  the  bunch  of  five  letters  together.  All  slid  into  the 
chute.  No.  i's  brother  became  very  indignant  and  mutter- 
ed something  about  rudeness  and  awkwardness.  I  at- 
tempted a  hasty  apology  and  disappeared  around  the  cor- 
ner to  the  office  of  the  Assistant  Postmaster,  whose  ac- 
quaintance I  had  previously  formed.  I  told  him  that  I  had 
just  deposited  two  letters  in  the  main  repository  and  that 
I  had  discovered  that  I  had  placed  the  letters  in  the  wrong 
envelopes,  and  wished  to  get  them  so  that  I  might  rectify 
my  mistake.  He  at  once  conducted  me  to  the  main  mail 
box  below,  where  there  were  at  least  a  half  a  wagon  load  of 
letters  and  general  mail  matter.     I  at  once  found  the  bunch 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  47 

of  five  letters  which  were  stuck  together  with  the  mucilage, 
and  in  separating  them  had  ample  time  to  note  the  different 
addresses  oh  the  three  envelopes  mailed  by  No.  I's  brother. 
One  of  these  was  addressed  to  a  relative  of  Mrs.  Dillard, 
to  her  home  in  Tennessee.  Another  was  addressed  to  an- 
other brother  of  No.  i,  who  resided  in  Atlanta,  Georgia. 
The  third  letter  was  addressed  to  J.  D.  Dillard,  Jr.,  Ocean 
Springs,  Mississippi.  I  knew  of  the  relatives  in  Tennessee 
and  of  the  brother  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  and  also  that  J.  D. 
Dillard,  Jr.,  was  the  man  I  wanted  to  locate,  and  for  the 
first  time  learned  that  he  was  at  Ocean  Springs,  Missis- 
sippi. Ocean  Springs  was  then  a  small  winter  resort  located 
on  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad,  between  Montgom- 
ery and  New  Orleans.  It  was  also  an  harbor  on  Mobile  Bay 
and  near  Biloxi,  Mississippi. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  information  I  went  to  Ocean 
Springs,  Miss.,  arriving  there  about  midnight  on  the  night 
that  I  had  seen  the  letter  addressed  by  No.  I's  brother  to 
this  place.  There  I  found  that  the  postoffice  of  the  town 
was  kept  in  a  grocery  store,  which  was  part  of  the  prin- 
cipal hotel  of  the  town.  I  learned  that  the  landlord,  who 
was  a  very  genial,  clever  man,  and  proprietor  of  the  gro- 
cery store,  was  postmaster.  I  quietly  showed  him  the 
photograph  of  No.  i  and  his  wife,  and  he  immediately 
identified  them  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dillard,  Jr.  He  told  me 
that  Dillard  had  represented  himself  to  him  as  a  rich  iron 
manufacturer  from  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  that  his  wife  was  in 
ill  health  and  that  they  had  been  there  for  the  past  month 
or  more  and  had  rented  a  beautiful  cottage  known  as  the 
Montgomery  Cottage,  where  they  were  living.  This  cot- 
tage was  situated  on  a  small  peninsula,  which  extended 
from  the  main  land,  dividing  Biloxi  Bay  from  Mobile  Bay. 
It  was  about  two  miles     from  the     postoffice  at     Ocean 


48  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Springs.  The  positive  and  ready  manner  in  which  the 
postmaster  identihed  the  photographs  satisfied  me  beyond 
any  doubt  that  1  had  succeeded  in  locating  No.  i.  I  gave 
the  postmaster  to  understand  that  No.  i  had  fallen  heir  to  a 
sum  of  money  and  property,  and  that  neither  he  nor  his  wife 
had  become  aware  of  the  fact,  and  that  I  was  very  desir- 
ous of  apprising  him  of  his  good  fortune  as  a  surprise,  and 
before  doing  so,  I  desired  to  have  all  necessary  papers  pre- 
pared, which  would  require  a  week  or  ten  days,  and,  there- 
fore, I  was  anxious  to  have  the  matter  kept  a  profound 
secret  until  everything  was  ready.  The  postmaster  readily 
promised  me  that  he  would  not  mention  the  matter  to  any 
person  until  I  gave  him  permission  to  do  so,  and  after 
making  these  arrangements  I  felt  perfectly  safe  in  not  ar- 
resting No.  I  until  I  had  secured  the  proper  papers  au- 
thorizing the  same. 

It  was  necessary  for  me  to  obtain  requisition  papers 
from  the  Governors  of  Mississippi  and  Texas.  It  would 
take  about  eight  or  ten  days  to  accomplish  this,  as  proper 
complaint  had  to  be  lodged  at  Sherman,  Texas,  request  for 
the  requisition  had  to  be  sent  from  Sherman  to  Austin, 
Texas,  and  the  request  of  the  Governor  of  Texas  to  the 
Governor  of  Mississippi  for  the  extradition  papers^  at 
Jackson,  Miss.,  where  the  agent  for  the  state  of  Texas  had 
to  appear  in  person  to  receive  the  papers.  I  had  myself 
appointed  as  the  agent  for  the  state  of  Texas. 

At  the  conclusion  of  my  understanding  with  the  post- 
master of  Ocean  Springs,  I  took  a  night  train  to  New  Or- 
leans, where  I  met  George  Herbert,  and  instructed  him  to 
go  on  the  first  train  to  Ocean  Springs,  and  on  arriving  there 
to  represent  himself  as  an  invalid  and  to  act  the  part.  He 
was  naturally  thin  and  had  a  sallow  complexion,  usually 
without  any  color. 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  49 

He  represented  himself  as  having  just  passed  through 
a  severe  attack  of  rheumatism,  and  claimed  that  he  had 
been  advised  by  his  physician  to  come  to  Ocean  Springs, 
where  he  should  spend  at  least  a  month  during  his  con- 
valescence. He  equipped  himself  with  two  heavy  walking 
canes,  which  he  carried  continuously  during  his  stay  at 
Ocean  Springs,  and  while  he  made  good  progress  walking, 
he  seemed  to  b3^standers  to  do  so  with  some  difficulty,  but 
the  balmy  climate  of  the  resort  seemed  to  benefit  him  great- 
ly, and  he  appeared  to  improve  daily  while  there.  He  was 
instructed  by  me  to  meander  around  and  to  get  to  the 
Montgomery  Cottage,  providing,  of  course,  if  he  could 
succeed  in  so  doing  without  arousing  any  suspicion,  and  if 
he  did  succeed  in  getting  inside  of  the  cottage,  that  he  was 
to  make  a  diagram  of  the  place  and  surroundings,  which 
Herbert  could  do  nicely,  as  he  was  a  good  draftsman.  He 
succeeded  admirably.  He  formed  the  acquaintance  of  No. 
I,  whom  he  met  at  the  postoffice  on  the  second  day  after 
his  arrival.  He  also  met  him  again  the  following  day  at 
the  same  place,  when  No.  i  gave  him  an  invitation  to  come 
over  to  the  cottage  and  take  a  sail  on  the  bay,  as  he  (No. 
i)  had  a  very  nice  sailing  yacht,  which  he  kept  anchored 
in  front  of  the  cottage.  Herbert  accepted  the  invitation 
and  visited  the  cottage  the  following  day,  when  No.  i 
introduced  him  to  his  wife,  mother-in-law  and  brother-in- 
law,  who  happened  to  be  at  the  cottage  making  a  visit.  He 
belonged  in  Tennessee.  Herbert  was  also  introduced  to  a 
young  woman,  about  thirty  years  of  age,  who  was  rather 
good-looking,  a  brunette  and  of  medium  size.  This  woman 
was  introduced  to  him  under  an  assumed  name,  as  we 
learned  within  a  few  days  thereafter  that  she  was  really 
the  wife  of  the  missing  agent. 

Herbert  was  invited  to  luncl:§on  at  the  cottage,  and  took 


50  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

a  short  sail  with  No.  i,  No.  I's  wife  and  the  brunette  lady 
before  mentioned.  The  yacht  was  a  schooner-rigged,  of 
about  twenty  tons  burden,  and  was  skillfully  manned  by  a 
man  about  thirty-five  years  of  age,  black  curly  hair,  a 
little  bald,  about  five  feet,  five  or  six  inches  in  height,  weigh- 
ing probably  one  hundred  and  thirty  or  thirty-five  pounds, 
dark  complexioned,  and  inclined  to  be  slender,  hollow 
cheeked,  and  had  somewhat  of  a  consumptive  appearance, 
Herbert  was  not  introduced  to  this  man  by  his  host,  but 
thought  nothing  of  the  matter,  believing  the  sailing  master, 
who  was  always  in  uniform,  to  be  simply  an  employe  of 
No.  I. 

Herbert  made  a  good  diagram  of  the  interior  of  the  cot- 
tage, as  well  as  the  entrances  and  the  grounds  and  out- 
buildings. After  that  he  made  daily  visits  to  the  cottage, 
when  the  weather  permitted,  the  occupants  seeming  to 
enjoy  and  encourage  his  visits.  He  had  made  arrange- 
ments with  the  livery  stable  for  the  services  of  an  old,  but 
gentle  horse,  and  an  old-fashioned  buggy,  in  which  he 
drove  around  every  day. 

Herbert  forwarded  the  diagram  to  me  along  with  his 
daily  reports  during  my  absence  from  Ocean  Springs.  All 
this  time  I  was  busily  engaged  in  procuring  the  necessary 
papers  and  making  arrangements  to  effect  the  arrest  of 
both  No.  I  and  No.  4,  as  upon  receipt  of  Herbert's  accu- 
rate description  of  the  sailing  master  of  the  yacht,  I  had 
become  satisfied  that  the  sailing-master  was  none  other  than 
No.  4,  the  much  wanted  agent. 

In  due  time  I  procured  the  papers  and  proceeded  to  Can- 
ton, Miss.,  which  was  the  county  seat  for  Ocean  Springs. 
I  there  found  Sheriff  Clark  of  that  county.  As  sheriff*  he 
was  commanded  in  the  requisition  papers  to  render  me,  as 
agent  for  the  state  of  Texas,  all  assistance  I  needed  in  mak- 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  51 

ing  the  arrests.  I  found  Sheriff  Chirk  to  be  a  fine,  affable 
gentleman  of  the  "old  school."  He  was  an  ex-Confederate 
captain,  having  served  through  the  Civil  War,  had  been 
elected  sheriff  of  his  county  at  the  close  of  that  conflict, 
and  had  succeeded  himself  in  office  up  to  the  time  of  which 
I  write.  I  requested  the  sheriff'  to  go  with  me  himself  and 
furnish  one  of  his  deputies. 

We  left  Canton,  which  was  about  twenty  miles  north  of 
Ocean  Springs,  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  and  arrived  at 
a  station  five  miles  north  of  the  Springs  an  hour  later,  where 
we  left  the  train,  as  we  did  not  deem  it  safe  to  get  off  the 
train  at  Ocean  Springs.  I  had  been  informed  by  Herbert, 
with  whom  I  was  in  daily  communication,  that  No.  I's 
brother-in-law  visited  the  depot  at  Ocean  Springs  at  night 
so  as  to  see  everybody  who  got  off  the  night  trains  at  that 
station.  He  also  stated  that  all  passenger  trains  passing 
that  station  were  seen  by  some  person  connected  with  the 
cottage. 

I  omitted  stating  heretofore  that  both  No.  i  and  No.  4 
were  good  telegraph  operators,  and  Herbert,  while  inspect- 
ing the  premises,  had  noticed  two  tiny  copper  wires  run- 
ning into  the  cottage,  and  had  followed  them  from  the  cot- 
tage to  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad,  and  later 
discovered  that  these  wires  were  connected  with  the  com- 
mercial wire  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co.,  that  ran 
between  New  Orleans  and  the  north.  He  also  found  that 
they  had  a  telegraph  office  fixed  up  in  one  of  the  rooms  of 
the  cottage  where  they  could  find  out  all  that  was  passing 
over  the  wires  of  the  Western  Union  Co.,  and  take  their 
ease. 

The  peninsular  upon  which  the  cottage  was  situated  was 
thickly  covered  with  pine  and  cedar  trees,  and  the  wires 
were  entirely  hidden  and  could  not  have  been  discovered  by 


52  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

au}'  person  unless  one  who  was  engaged  as  Herbert  was, 
so  that  these  gentlemen  could  while  away  their  time  list- 
ening to  what  was  going  over  the  wires. 

After  leaving  the  train,  Sheriff  Clark,  his  deputy  and  my- 
self leisurely  walked  down  the  tracks  to  within  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  of  Ocean  Springs,  and  then  making  a  detour  around 
the  station,  we  reached  the  peninsula  south  from  Ocean 
Springs,  at  which  point  I  had  arranged  to  meet  Herbert. 

It  began  raining  the  evening  before  we  had  left  Canton, 
and  continued  to  rain  all  night.  It  was  in  the  month  of 
February,  and  was  a  cold  and  chilly  rain.  The  night  was 
inky  dark. 

When  we  reached  the  peninsula  we  were  sheltered 
by  the  dense  foliage  of  the  trees,  and  we  approached  the 
cottage  to  within  about  one  thousand  feet,  and  then  decided 
to  remain  quietly  among  the  trees  until  we  could  see  day- 
light begin  to  appear  in  the  east.  At  the  first  appearance 
of  da3dight  Herbert  and  myself  reconnoitered,  circling  the 
cottage,  he  going  one  way  and  I  the  other.  We  found 
that  every  one  was  apparently  asleep.  We  then  went  back 
and  reported  to  Sheriff  Clark  and  his  deputy.  We  sur- 
rounded the  place,  Herbert  and  the  deputy  covering  the 
rear  of  the  cottage,  and  the  skeriff  and  myself  going  to  the 
front  door  and  rapping  for  admission,  which  was  denied. 
After  we  had  rapped  for  admission  we  could  hear  the  win- 
dow shutters  being  pushed  open  and  the  inmates  peered 
out  of  the  windows  and  discovered  that  the  place  was  sur- 
rounded, or  rather  guarded,  on  each  side.  Finally  Sheriff 
Clark  told  the  occupants  that  unless  they  opened  the  door 
that  we  would  force  it.  After  some  parleying  the  front 
door  was  opened.  The  door  was  a  double  door  and  only 
one-half  of  it  was  opened,  and  very  suddenly  No.  I's  broth, 
er-in-law,  a  very  tall   and  slender  individual,  appeared   in 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  53 

the  open  door  with  a  double-barreled  shotgun  in  his  hands, 
but  before  he  had  time  to  raise  the  gun  to  a  shooting  po- 
sition, he  found  himself  covered  with  two  double-barreled 
guns,  one  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff  and  the  other  in  my 
hand.  Upon  being  ordered  to  drop  the  gun  he  did  so 
promptly.  The  sheriff  took  possession  of  him  and  I  started 
down  the  wide  hall,  which  ran  directly  through  the  center 
of  the  cottage.  As  I  was  passing  the  second  door  from  the 
front  door  A^o.  i  stepped  out  of  the  room  into  the  hall  with 
a  pistol  in  his  hand.  I  recognized  him  and  promptly  arrest- 
ed him. 

I  said  to  him,  "Where  is  No.  4?" 
He  answered,  "In  the  room  across  the  hall." 
I  went  to  the  room  indicated  and  rapped,  but  was  re- 
fused admission.  I  then  forced  the  door  and  found  No.  4 
standing  in  the  middle  of  the  room  partly  dressed.  After 
some  trouble  with  No.  4  and  his  wife,  we  took  them  all  to 
Ocean  Springs.  We  walked  over  there,  a  distance  of  about 
two  miles.  It  was  breakfast  time  when  we  reached  there, 
and  the  rain  had  stopped.  We  went  to  the  hotel  and  got 
something  to  eat,  and  the  landlord  learned  for  the  first 
time  the  true  nature  of  the  surprise  that  I  had  in  store  for 
No.  I. 

There  was  an  early  train  to  New  Orleans,  and  Herbert 
and  I  took  the  two  prisoners  and  left  on  this  train  for  that 
city.  I  telegraphed  ahead  to  have  a  carriage  meet  us  out- 
side of  New  Orleans,  and  we  left  the  train  a  short  distance 
from  that  city.  Here  we  entered  the  carriage,  which  con- 
veyed us  to  the  ferry  boat  at  New  Orleans.  We  took  the 
ferry  and  went  across  to  Algiers.  Our  object  in  doing  this 
was  that  I  wished  to  avoid  newspaper  notoriety.  The  news- 
paper men  we  were  sure  to  meet  in  the  main  station  at  New 
Orleans  had  we  gone  there. 


54  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

At  Algiers  we  boarded  a  Southern  Pacific  train  for  Hous- 
ton, Texas.  At  Houston  we  took  a  Houston  &  Texas  Cen- 
tral train,  which  took  us  through  to  Dallas,  Texas. 

The  prisoners  were  lodged  in  jail  before  the  newspapers 
had  mentioned  the  capture  or  arrest,  for  the  reason  that  I 
knew  that  there  were  two  others  connected  with  the  swin- 
dle, who  resided  in  Dallas,  and  had  not  yet  been  arrested, 
who  were  not  even  suspected  of  having  any  connection  with 
the  swindle  or  any  other  crime  by  the  people  of  Dallas. 

We  arrived  at  Dallas  at  night  with  the  prisoners.  The  fol- 
lowing morning  the  Chief  of  Police,  Jim  Arnold,  and  my- 
self picked  up  and  arrested  the  other  two  accomplices. 
These  men  were  Hebrews.  One  of  them  had  been  a  re- 
spectable and  prominent  cotton  buyer  up  to  his  connection 
with  the  swindle.  The  other  was  an  educated  man  and 
somewhat  noted  for  having  been  mixed  up  in  crooked  deal- 
ings. He  was  a  lawyer,  but  was  not  practicing  law  for  a 
livelihood. 

The  reader  should  remember  that  No.  i  was  an  ex-rail- 
road agent  and  telegraph  operator,  and  had  been  employed 
as  such  up  to  about  one  year  and  a  half  before  he  became 
engaged  in  this  cotton  swindle.  He  had  become  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  railroad  system  of  receiving  and  handling 
cotton. 

No.  2,  who  lived  in  Dallas,  was  also  familiar  with  the  buy- 
ing and  selling,  and  value  of  cotton,  as  well  as  the  custom- 
ary way  of  obtaining  cash  from  the  banks  on  bills  of  lad- 
ing for  the  same. 

No.  3  was  the  reputable  cotton  buyer,  or  broker,  before 
mentioned  in  this  story.     He  also  lived  in  Dallas. 

The  arrests  at  Dallas  added  greatly  to  the  excitement 
which  was  caused  by  the  incarceration  of  No.  4  and  No.  i 
the  night  before. 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  55 

The  prisoners  all  waived  preliminary  hearings  and  were 
committed  to  jail  in  default  of  bail  to  wait  the  action  of  the 
Grand  Jury,  which  convened  a  month  or  six  weeks  later. 
In  the  meantime,  three  of  the  defendants  succeeded  in  get- 
ting bonds  and  were  released  from  jail.  My  recollection 
now  is  that  the  bonds  were  fixed  at  $10,000  each. 

No.  3  was  taken  sick  immediately  after  his  arrest  and 
continued  to  steadily  grow  worse  until  he  died,  which  was 
about  two  months  after  he  was  arrested. 

No.  I  and  No.  2  almost  immediately  after  they  had  been 
released  on  bonds  fled  the  countr}^  No.  i  going  to  Old 
Mexico,  and  No.  2  seeking  refuge  in  London,  Ontario,  Can- 
ada. 

When  the  cases  were  called  for  trial  in  court  at  Dallas, 
Texas,  No.  i  and  No.  2  failed  to  appear,  and  their  bonds 
were  declared  forfeited.  No.  3,  having  died,  his  bond,  of 
course,  was  not  forfeited. 

No.  4,  it  appears  either  did  not  try  to  procure  bail,  or  if 
so,  did  not  succeed,  as  he  remained  in  jail.  Meanwhile  1 
was  employed  in  procuring  duplicates  of  the  bills  of  lading, 
which  had  been  issued  and  sold  to  the  purchasers  of  the  cot- 
ton, which  caused  me  to  visit  the  cities  of  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  Providence,  Rhode  Island  and  Fall  River,  Mass.  The 
procuring  of  these  duplicates  proved  no  easy  task,  but  1 
finally  obtained  certified  copies  of  all  of  them.  These  dupli- 
cates were  to  be  used  as  evidence  at  the  trial. 

I  was  at  Dallas  on  the  date  set  for  the  trial,  and,  on  learn- 
ing of  the  absence  of  the  defendants,  and  that  the  court 
had  postponed  the  trial  of  No.  4,  he  being  the  only  one  with- 
in the  reach  of  the  court,  I  at  once  reported  the  situation 
to  the  railroad  officials  at  St.  Louis,  in  reply  to  which  I  re- 
ceived instructions  by  wire  from  Vice-President  Hoxie,  of 
the  Missouri  Pacific  to  proceed  at  once  to  locate  and  arrest 


56  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

the  fugitives  and  take  them  back  to  Dallas,  and  there  to 
turn  them  over  to  the  proper  authorities,  so  that  they 
might  be  dealt  with  according  to  law. 

Upon  receipt  of  these  instructions,  I  detailed  operatives 
Bailey  and  Herbert  of  my  staff  to  locate  and  arrest  Xo.  i, 
which  they  succeeded  in  doing  after  a  lot  of  hard  and  good 
work.  They  arrested  him  at  Guymas,  Old  Mexico.  This 
city  is  located  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  They  brought  their 
prisoner  back  to  Dallas  and  lodged  him  in  jail. 

I  had  assumed  the  task  of  locating  No.  2.  After  con- 
siderable work  I  discovered  that  he  was  in  London,  Cana- 
da, which  is  just  one  hundred  miles  east  of  Detroit,  Mich- 
igan. I  visited  London,  where  I  saw  No.  2,  without  being 
seen  by  him.  He  would  have  known  me  at  sight,  as  it  was 
I  who  had  arrested  him  in  Dallas. 

I  found  that  he  had  surrounded  himself  with  a  number 
of  sympathizing  friends  in,  London,  many  of  whom  were 
fugitives  from  justice  from  the  United  States,  as  he  was. 
Many  of  them,  he  among  them,  had  money  and  felt  safe 
while  on  Canadian  soil. 

The  extradition  treaty  then  in  force  between  Great  Brit- 
ain and  the  United  States  was  known  as  the  Ashburton 
and  Webster  Treaty,  and  was  passed,  I  believe,  in  1844. 
This  treaty  only  permitted  the  extradition  of  fugitives 
charged  with  one  of  seven  crimes ;  murder,  felonious  assault 
with  intent  to  murder,  arson,  rape,  forgery,  uttering  of 
forged  paper  and  perjury. 

After  I  had  seen  No.  2  in  London,  I  communicated  the 
facts  by  wire  code  to  Mr.  Hoxie,  he  giving  my  report  to 
ex-Governor  John  C.  Brown,  the  General  Solicitor  for  the 
Gould  System  of  railroads.  His  headquarters  were  in  the 
same  building  with  Mr.  Hoxie's  at  St.  Louis. 

Governor  Brown  was  thoroughly  conversant  with   this 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  57 

case,  and  had  a  national  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  and  when 
told  by  Mr.  Hoxie  of  the  whereabouts  of  No.  2,  he  at  once 
wired  me,  by  code,  to  try  my  best  to  induce  No.  2  to  accom- 
pany me  across  the  line  of  Canada  into  either  Michigan  or 
New  York  state.  If  I  succeeded  in  getting  him  across  the 
boundary  line  I  could  hold  him  in  either  state  until  extra- 
dition papers  could  be  secured  from  the  Governor  of  Texas. 

From  the  instructions  Gov.  Brown  had  wired  me,  I 
was  satisfied  that  the  Governor  was  not  familiar  with  the 
statutes  of  Canada  pertaining  to  extradition.  If  I  had  at- 
tempted to  induce  the  fugitive  across  the  Canada  line  for 
the  purpose  of  arresting  him  without  legal  authority  I 
would  be  subjecting  myself  to  prosecution  for  kidnapping. 
If  convicted  of  that  charge  under  the  Canadian  statutes,  I 
would  have  been  sent  to  prison  for  a  term  of  from  two  to 
seven  years.  Knowing  that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to 
obey  Gov.  Brown's  instructions,  I  employed  a  young  attor- 
ney, or  barrister,  as  they  are  called  in  Canada,  whose  name 
was  McBride,  and  while  he  had  been  practicing  law  but  a 
few  years,  he  was  recommended  to  me  very  highly  for  his 
ability  and  integrity. 

During  my  consultation  with  him  I  explained  to  him  ful- 
ly that  the  bills  of  lading,  which  had  been  used  in  the  cot- 
ton swindle,  had  been  signed  by  the  company's  agent  in 
blank  and  then  turned  over  by  the  agent  to  No.  2  in  blocks. 
No.  2  had  then  filled  out  each  blank  for  various  numbers  of 
bales  of  cotton,  setting  forth  the  number  of  bales  and  the 
weight  of  each  bale  in  the  regular  way.  He  then  turned  the 
bills  of  lading  thus  prepared  by  him  over  to  No.  3,  whom 
the  reader  will  remember  was  a  cotton  buyer.  No.  3  placed 
these  bills  of  lading  in  various  banks  at  Sherman,  Dallas  and 
other  Texas  towns.  He  drew  cash  from  the  banks  for  the 
face  value,  less  ten  per  cent,  for  the  purpose  heretofore  stat- 


58  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

ed.  After  explaining  all  this  to  Mr.  McBride,  I  asked  him 
what  crime  these  men  had  committed  under  the  statutes  of 
Canada.  He  promptly  answered  without  even  referring  to 
the  statutes,  that  under  the  Canadian  law,  they  were  all 
guilty  of  forgery  and  having  uttered  and  published  forged 
paper,  including  the  company's  agent  who  had  signed  each 
of  these  bills  as  agent. 

I  said,  "Supposing  these  men  had  fled  from  the  United 
States  and  were  found  in  Canada,  could  they  be  arrested  and 
extradited  back  to  the  United  States  for  trial?" 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "they  surely  could,  under  the  provisions 
of  the  Ashburton  and  Webster  Treaty,  which  provides  for 
the  extradition  of  fugitives  w'ho  are  legally  charged  with 
the  crime  of  forgery,  or  of  uttering  and  publishing  forged 
paper." 

"But,"  I  said,  "Mr.  McBride,  the  company's  agent  signed 
these  bills  of  lading." 

He  replied,  "I  understand  from  you  that  the  agent  had  re- 
ceived no  cotton.    Am  I  right?" 

I  answered,  "Yes,  he  received  no  cotton." 

"Then,"  said  Air.  McBride,  "the  agent  signed  the  bills  of 
lading  for  fraudulent  purposes,  and  therefore  his  signature 
w^as  unauthorized  by  the  company  who  employed  him,  and 
under  the  Canadian  law  he  is  a  forger,  while  the  other  con- 
spirators would  be  guilty  of  uttering  and  publishing  forged 
paper.  The  penalty  would  be  just  as  severe  for  the  latter 
oiTense,  under  the  Canadian  law,  as  it  would  be  for  forgery." 

I  neglected  to  state  that  after  I  had  located  No.  2,  at  Lon- 
don, Ontario,  the  railroad  company's  attorneys  were  in- 
formed by  the  judge  who  presided  over  the  criminal  court 
at  Dallas,  Texas,  that  in  his  opinion  the  fraudulent  bills  of 
lading  heretofore  described  were  not  forgeries,  as  they  had 
been  signed  by  the  company's  agent,  and  for  this  reason,  I 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  59 

presume,  Gov.  Brown  instructed  me  as  he  did,  he  Knowing 
that  the  fugitive,  No.  2,  could  not  be  extradited  from  Can- 
ada unless  we  could  substantiate  a  charge  for  forgery  against 
him.  No  doubt,  at  the  time,  Gov.  Brown  believed  the  rul- 
ing of  the  Texas  judge  was  correct.  All  of  which  I  fully 
explained  to  Mr.  McBride,  to  which  he  replied,  "A  Texas 
judge  has  no  jurisdiction  in  Canada,  and  his  opinion  or 
construction  of  our  law  would  amount  to  nothing  here. 
And  if  you  hnd  any  fugitive  from  the  United  States  in  Can- 
ada, who  has  been  connected  with  the  swindle,  yoti  will 
have  to  identify  them  as  being  the  right  parties,  and  then  set 
forth  the  manner  in  which  the  swindle  was  enacted  and 
the  amount  of  money  or  propert}^  secured  by  the  swindlers, 
and  it  does  not  make  any  difference  what  name  the  Texas 
statutes  or  the  Texas  judge  gives  the  crime  committed  in 
the  manner  you  have  described  to  me,  it  would  be  forgery 
here.  You  must  understand  that  you  must  comply  with  the 
requirements  of  the  Canadian  laws  in  order  to  extradite  a 
fugitive  from  Canada.  If  you  should  find  your  fugitive  here 
in  London  you  can,  if  you  desire,  go  to  any  other  county 
or  city  in  the  province  of  Ontario  and  make  your  complaint, 
have  a  warrant  issued  for  the  arrest  of  the  fugitive,  bring 
an  officer  from  that  county  or  city  to  serve  the  warrant ,  ar- 
rest him  here  and  take  him  immediately  before  the  magis- 
trate who  issued  the  warrant,  and  have  the  prisoner  commit- 
ted to  jail  for  two  weeks  without  bail.  At  the  expiration  of 
the  two  weeks,  should  you  desire  an  additional  two  weeks, 
you  can  secure  same  by  convincing  the  magistrate  that  you 
were  unable  to  secure  the  presence  of  the  necessary  wit- 
nesses to  substantiate  the  identity  of  the  prisoner,  and  his 
connection  with  the  swindle ;  our  law  will  allow  you  these 
continuances.  After  the  prisoner  had  had  his  preliminary 
hearing,  if  the  testimony  offered  should  be  sufficient  to  satis- 


60  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

fy  the  magistrate,  he  would  then  fix  the  bond  at  the  amount 
of  four  times  the  amount  involved  in  the  swindle,  which 
would  be  in  this  case  nearly  one-half  million  dollars." 

After  McBride  had  finished  the  foregoing  advice  to  me,  1 
thanked  him  and  paid  him  his  fee,  which  was  only  Sio.oo, 
and  went  to  Chatham,  Ontario.  Chatham  is  the  county 
seat,  about  fifty  miles  west  of  London,  and  just  half  way 
between  London  and  Detroit,  Michigan. 

I  found  the  queen's  counsel  at  Chatham,  to  whom  I  fully 
explained  my  case.  Whereupon,  he  verified  and  approved 
the  advice  I  had  received  from  Mr.  McBride  of  London. 
I  at  once  filed  the  necessary  complaint,  and  procured  a  war- 
rant for  the  arrest  of  No.  2.  The  warrant  was  addressed 
and  given  to  the  chief  of  police  of  Chatham,  who  accompa- 
nied me  back  to  London,  where  I  pointed  out  the  fugitive 
to  him. 

We  arrested  him  immediately  and  took  him  to  Chatham, 
where  he  was  locked  up  as  a  fugitive,  and  his  hearing  set  for 
two  weeks  later  in  accordance  with  the  Canadian  law. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  when  I  first  located  No.  2 
in  London  he  was  surrounded  by  newly  found  friends  there, 
a  number  of  whom  were  fugitives  like  himself.  For  this 
reason  I  felt  it  prudent  to  begin  legal  proceedings  against 
him  in  a  country  where  both  he  and  I  were  strangers  and 
avoid  the  annoyance  and  trouble  which  his  sympathizing 
fugitive  friends  were  sure  to  cause. 

As  soon  as  No.  2  was  safely  lodged  in  jail  I  wired  Gov. 
Brown  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  stating  that  I  had  arrested 
and  locked  up  No.  2  on  the  charge  of  being  a  fugitive  from 
the  state  of  Texas.  United  States  of  America,  that  the  hear- 
ing was*  set  for  two  weeks  later  and  that  while  passing 
through  St.  Louis  on  my  way  to  Texas,  I  would  stop  over 
long  enough  to  report  in  person  to  him.     In  about  two 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  61 

hours  I  received  his  reply,  which  was  a  severe  reprimand, 
and  read  as  follows :  "Why  did  you  disobey  my  instruc- 
tions when  you  knew  that  I  had  instructed  you  as  to  what 
the  Texas  judge  had  decided,  and  therefore,  the  fugitive 
could  not  be  extradited  from  Canada  under  the  existing 
treaty,  nor  in  accordance  with  the  act  of  Congress,  which 
provides  for  said  treaty.  Answer."  (Signed)  John  C. 
Brown. 

To  which  I  answered  as  follows : 

"Hon.  John  C.  Brown,  General  Solicitor,  Missouri  Pacific 
Railroad  Co.,  St.  Louis,  Missouri: — I  disregarded  your  in- 
structions, finding  them  erroneous,  and  that  you  did  not 
understand  the  law  pertaining  to  this  case.  Have  also 
learned  that  a  Texas  Judge's  ruling  are  not  considered  in 
Canada,  as  I  find  that  I  can  legally  extradite  the  fugitive 
from  Canada  under  the  present  law."  (Signed)  Thomas 
Furlong. 

After  sending  the  above  message,  I  borrowed  a  copy  of 
the  revised  statutes  of  Canada  from  the  Crown  Counsel, 
who  would  be  called  prosecuting  attorney  in  the  United 
States.  He  marked  each  section  of  the  statutes  which  per- 
tained to  our  case,  I  at  once  put  the  law  book  in  my  grip, 
and  started  for  St.  Louis,  arriving  there  the  following  morn- 
ing. 

I  immediately  reported  to  Vice-President  Hoxie,  whom  I 
found  in  his  office.  After  the  usual  greeting  Mr.  Hoxie 
said  to  me,  "Tom,  Gov.  Brown  showed  me  a  message  that 
he  had  received  from  you  yesterday.  He  appeared  to  be 
quite  angry." 

To  which  I  replied,  'T  am  here  to  explain  my  actions  ful- 
ly, and  I  wish  you  would  kindly  request  Gov.  Brown  to 
come  to  your  office  at  his  convenience,  as  1  think  my  ex- 
planation should  be  made  to  him  in  your  presence  so  that 


62  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

one  explanation  may  serve  both.  My  time  is  limited,  as  I 
must  go  to  Texas  and  procure  certain  witnesses  and  return 
with  them  to  Chatham,  Ontario,  within  two  weeks,  the  time 
set  for  the  hearing." 

Whereupon,  Mr.  Hoxie  sent  for  Gov.  Brown,  who  ap- 
peared in  a  few  moments.  After  the  usual  salutation,  I  re- 
peated the  instructions  I  received  from  him.  I  then  stated 
that  I  had  found  it  impossible  for  me  to  have  carried  out  the 
instructions  in  Canada  without  subjecting  myself  to  prose- 
cution, and  probably  a  sentence  to  the  penitentiary,  and  I, 
therefore,  concluded  to  do  the  next  best  thing,  which  was 
to  employ  a  competent  attorney,  who  advised  me  as  to  my 
rights  and  how  to  proceed  legally  under  the  laws  of  that 
country.  I  then  produced  the  copy  of  the  statutes,  which  I 
had  borrowed  from  the  crown  counsel,  and  directed  Gov. 
Brown's  attention  to  the  marked  sections  before  mentioned, 
which  he  carefully  read.  After  he  had  finished  I  produced 
and  read  the  telegram  I  had  received  from  him,  at  the  same 
time  calling  his  attention  to  the  question  he  had  asked  me 
to  answer  in  his  message. 

He  then  compared  his  message  with  the  one  he  had  re- 
ceived froin  me  in  dignified  silence,  and  then  without  a 
word  handed  the  two  messages  to  Mr.  Hoxie,  near  whose 
chair  he  was  standing.  Mr.  Hoxie  read  them  and  then 
looked  up  at  the  Governor  and  said,  "Governor,  what  do  you 
think  of  this  matter?" 

For  answer  Gov.  Brown  deliberately  walked  around  the 
table  to  where  I  was  sitting  and  extended  his  hand  to  me, 
and  I  arose  and  took  it.  He  turned  to  Mr.  Hoxie  and  said 
in  a  pleasant  manner,  "Furlong  was  right  all  the  way 
through."  Then  turning  to  me  he  said,  "Furlong,  you  ought 
to  have  been  a  lawyer.  I  was  a  little  angry  when  I  received 
your  message  yesterday,  but  I  see  that  it  was  all  right,  as 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  63 

you  only  answered  the  questions  I  had  asked  you." 

I  left  St.  Louis  for  Dallas  that  night,  and  while  there  I 
arranged  with  the  Chief  of  Police,  Jim  Arnold,  and  other 
well-known  citizens,  to  accompany  me  to  Chatham,  Ontario, 
as  witnesses  in  the  case  pending  against  No.  2.  These 
witnesses  had  all  known  No.  2  for  years,  and  were  familiar 
with  his  reputation  as  to  truth  and  veracity,  his  business 
connections,  etc.  The  witnesses  and  myself  arrived  in 
Chatham  in  time  for  the  hearing  of  No.  2. 

The  judge,  after  hearing  the  evidence,  committed  No.  2 
to  jail  without  bail  to  await  extradition  papers  from  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  the  Governor  General  of 
Canada.  No.  2.,was  defended  in  the  hearing  by  two  noted 
barristers,  who  at  once  appealed  to  a  higher  court.  In  due 
time  the  appeal  was  argued  and  the  action  of  the  lower  court 
sustained;  whereupon  No.  2's  counsel  had  the  case  taken 
up  to  the  Privey  Court  at  Toronto.  This  court  affirmed  the 
action  of  the  lower  courts,  and  it  being  the  highest  tribunal 
in  Canada  its  decision  was  final  and  No.  2  was  committed 
without  bail  for  extradition. 

I  immediately  left  Toronto  for  Washington,  D.  C,  hav- 
ing already  received  the  necessary  papers  from  the  state  of 
Texas.  I  presented  these  to  the  Department  of  Justice  in 
Washington,  on  the  evening  of  my  arrival  there,  and  they 
were  promptly  approved  and  sent  to  President  Cleveland 
for  his  signature.  By  the  way,  these  papers  were  the  first 
of  their  kind  ever  signed  by  President  Cleveland,  it  being 
but  four  days  after  his  inauguration  for  his  first  term  as 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  papers  were  delivered 
to  me  and  I  left  for  Chatham,  Ontario,  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  No.  2  back  to  Dallas,  Texas,  for  trial  and  bearing  the 
commission  of  President  Cleveland  to  do  so. 
The  following  day  the  train  on  which  I  was  riding  stopped 


64  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

twenty  minutes  at  Canandaigua,  New  York,  for  dinner.  As 
I  was  eating  my  dinner  a  messenger  boy  called  out  my  name 
at  the  dining  room  door.  I  answered  and  he  handed  me 
a  telegram,  which  was  from  the  high  sheriff  of  Chatham, 
and  read  as  follows : 

"When  my  jailor  went  to  the  cell  occupied  by  No.  2  at 
twelve  o'clock  to  day  he  found  him  dead.  Had  apparently 
been  dead  an  hour.  Cause  of  death  yet  unknown.  Probably 
heart  failure." 

I  wired  him  that  I  would  be  in  Chatham  on  the  following 
morning.  On  my  arrival  there  a  post-mortem  autopsy  was 
made  of  the  body  of  No.  2,  and  it  developed  that  he  had 
committed  suicide  by  taking  laudanum.  The  sheriff  and  the 
jailor  have  never  been  able  to  satisfy  themselves  as  to  how 
No.  2  got  possession  of  the  poison.  He  had  friends  and 
relatives  who  lived  at  Jackson,  Michigan,  who  called  at 
Chatham  and  identified  the  body,  and  took  it  to  Jackson  for 
burial. 

I  then  returned  to  Dallas,  Texas,  so  as  to  be  present  at 
the  trial  of  No.  i  and  No.  4,  they  being  the  only  two  of  the 
swindlers  left  for  trial. 

When  I  had  first  arrested  the  swindlers  and  placed  them 
in  jail  at  Dallas,  the  Prosecuting  Attorney  called  me  to  his 
office  and  told  me  that  the  defendants  had  employed  a  num- 
ber  of  the  most  able  attorneys  at  that  bar  to  defend  them, 
and  he  said  that  he  thought  that  the  railroad  company 
ought  to  permit  him  to  select  an  attorney  to  assist  him  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  defendants.  I  told  him  that  I  had  no 
doubt  but  that. General  Solicitor  Brown  would  do  so  if  he 
would  make  the  request  of  him. 

He  replied  that  as  I  was  going  direct  to  St.  Louis  that  he 
wished  me  to  make  the  request  for  him,  which  I  did.  ^^'^hen 
I  delivered  his  request  to  Cov.  Brown,  he  replied  that  Capt. 


THE  BIG  COTTON  SWINDLE.  65 

Tom  Brown,  of  Sherman,  Texas,  was  the  railroad  company's 
attorney  in  that  district,  an  able  lawyer,  and  he  would  be 
glad  to  instruct  him  to  assist  the  Prosecuting  Attorney  in 
every  way  that  he  could,  or,  he  would  furnish  him  any  other 
of  the  company's  attorneys  in  Texas,  should  he  believe  their 
assistance  necessary,  and  that  he  would  take  it  up  with  the 
Prosecuting  Attorney  at  Dallas  and  make  all  the  necessary 
arrangements. 

I  communicated  these  facts  to  the  Prosecuting  Attorney. 
Later  Gov.  Brown  informed  me  that  he  (the  prosecuting 
attorney)  had  selected  a  lawyer  to  assist  him  who  was  not 
in  any  way  connected  with  the  railroad  service,  and  that 
he  had  suggested  that  this  assistant  should  be  paid  a  fee  of 
five  or  six  thousand  dollars  by  the  railroad  company  for  his 
services.  Gov.  Brown  further  stated  that  the  attorney  se- 
lected for  an  assistant  was  not  looked  upon  with  favor  by 
either  himself  or  any  of  his  assistants.  Some  of  the  as- 
sistants connected  with  the  legal  department  of  the  railroad 
company,  under  General  Solicitor  Brown,  refused  to  asso- 
ciate themselves  with  the  cases  if  the  man  selected  by  the 
Prosecuting  Attorney  was  connected  in  any  way  with  them. 
His  services  were  refused  and  Capt.  Tom  Brown  went  to 
Dallas  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
two  remaining  accused  swindlers. 

I  had  turned  the  duplicate  bills  of  lading  over  to  Capt. 
Brown  and  on  the  morning  of  the  trial  of  No.  i  and  No.  4, 
he  placed  these  papers  in  his  overcoat  pocket  with  other 
documentary  evidence.  He  was  a  little  late  and  hastened 
into  the  dining  room,  leaving  his  coat  and  hat  on  a  rack 
in  the  corridor  of  the  hotel.  When  he  fmished  his  break- 
fast and  returned  to  his  overcoat  he  discovered  the  papers 
had  been  stolen.  When  the  cases  were  called  into  court, 
the  prosecuting  attorney  asked  that  a  nolle  prosequi  be  en- 


66  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

tered  in  the  cases,  thus  letting  two  of  the  principals  in  the 
swindle  go  free. 

Thus  ended  the  cotton  swindle,  the  most  gigantic  swin- 
dle of  this  kind  that  had  ever  taken  place  in  the  United 
States,  or,  I  believe,  in  any  other  country  up  to  that  time. 

Capt.  Tom  Brown  was  afterwards  elected  as  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Bench  of  Texas,  and  was  always  esteemed  as  an 
able  jurist  and  a  thorough  gentleman. 


A  REMARKABLE    CASE. 

IDENTIFICATION  OF  A   LITTLE   GIRL  FROM  A  DESCRIPTION  GIVEN 
OF  HER  FATHER,  LEADS  TO  THE  LATTER's  ARREST. 

Identification  of  criminals  from  descriptions  is  not  always 
an  easy  task,  for  two  reasons.  First,  there  are  but  few  men 
who  can  intelligently  describe  a  person  from  memory.  This 
is  an  art  within  itself.  The  second  reason  is,  it  takes  so 
little  to  change  the  general  appearance  of  a  man  to  such  a 
degree  that  it  is  hard  to  pick  him  up  from  a  mere  descrip- 
tion, that  is,  unless  the  man  wanted  has  some  peculiar  feat- 
ure or  form  that  is  very  noticeable.  The  ordinary  man,  to 
change  his  general  appearance,  has  to  do  but  little.  A 
change  of  shape  or  style  of  hat  or  clothing,  the  cutting 
off  or  growing  of  a  mustache,  or  even  a  haircut  or  shave 
will  often  serve  the  purpose.  I  have  never  claimed  to 
have  what  is  today  called  "a  camera  eye"  but  I  did  a  piece 
of  identification  work  while  special  agent  of  the  Allegheny 
Valley  Railroad  in  the  early  '70s  of  which  I  have  always 
been  proud,  for  the  reason  that  there  has  absolutely  never 
been  another  case  like  it  in  the  police  annals  of  the  entire 
country. 

During  the  spring  1874,  a  man  giving  the  name  of  Joseph 
Chalfont  applied  to  Mr.  Thomas  M.  King,  the  Division 
Superintendent  of  the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad,  at  Pitts- 


A  REMARKABLE  CASE.  67 

burg,  Pa.,  for  a  situation  as  locomotive  engineer.  This 
man,  Chalfont,  was  a  rather  remarkable  person,  appearing 
to  be  about  thirty-six  years  of  age.  He  stood  more  than 
six  feet  in  height,  with  extremely  long  arms  and  legs. 
His  complexion  was  dark  and  sallow,  and  his  hair  coarse 
and  black.  His  neck  was  very  long,  with  a  noticeable 
"Adam's  Apple."  His  cheek-bones  were  high,  and  his  nose 
straight  and  long.  His  eyes  were  beady  and  black,  being 
set  far  back  in  his  head  and  very  close  together ;  they  were 
crowned  with  a  bushy  pair  of  eyebrows,  which  met  above 
the  ridge  of  his  nose.  Then  to  make  the  picture  more  com- 
plete, his  forehead  was  low,  giving  his  head  a  small,  bullet- 
like appearance.  The  reader  can  see  that  a  description 
of  this  man,  if  given  accurately  and  with  any  care  could  be 
almost  as  good  as  a  photograph. 

Chalfont  presented  a  letter  of  recommendation  from  the 
Master  Mechanic  of  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern 
Ry.,  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  The  letter  was  very  good,  and  stated 
that  Chalfont  had  been  in  the  employ  of  that  company  for 
a  couple  of  years,  and  that  he  had  left  its  service  of  his 
own  accord,  because  he  hoped  to  benefit  himself  by  a 
change  of  climate.  Supt.  King  was  a  close  observer,  and 
a  good  judge  of  human  nature.  He  was  badly  in  need 
of  men  at  the  time,  and  being  rather  impressed  with  Chal- 
font's  appearance  and  manner,  he  examined  him  as  to  the 
rules  governing  the  movement  of  trains.  He  stood  a  fair 
examination  and  was  engaged.  It  is  usual  for  an  engineer 
who  has  not  been  promoted  on  a  road,  or  who  comes  from 
another  road,  to  spend  several  weeks  in  riding  on  the  en- 
gines back  and  forth  over  the  portion  of  the  road  on  which 
he  is  expected  to  run.  In  this  way  a  man  could  become 
familiar  with  all  the  grades,  switches,  side-tracks,  curves, 
signals  and  so  forth.     Chalfont  was  given  a  copy  of  the 


68  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

company's  rules  and  an  order  to  learn  the  road.  When 
he  had  done  this  he  was  given  freight  engine  No.  42  to  haul 
freight  between  South  Oil  City  and  Pittsburg.  One  day 
he  was  given  a  train  of  empty  oil  tanks  at  Pittsburg,  and 
started  for  South  Oil  City  with  them.  He  arrived  there  in 
due  time  and  turned  the  cars  in  safely.  The  following 
evening  he  was  given  a  train  of  forty-five  full  oil  tanks 
with  orders  to  take  them  to  Pittsburg.  When  he  reached 
Sarah's  Furnace,  about  half  the  distance  to  Pittsburg,  he 
received  orders  to  run  upon  the  side-track  there  and  allow 
a  north-bound  freight  to  pass  him.  He  took  the  siding  as 
he  had  been  ordered,  and  in  due  time  the  first  section  of 
the  freight  met  and  passed  him  there.  The  engine  on  this 
section  carried  two  red  lights,  which  is  the  warning  to 
railroad  men  that  another  section  is  following  the  first  one, 
and  it  has  the  same  roadway  privileges  as  the  first  sec- 
tion. It  therefore  became  the  duty  of  Chalfont  to  remain 
upon  the  siding  until  the  second  section  had  passed  him. 
Instead  of  doing  this,  however,  Chalfont  pulled  out  on  the 
main  line  and  started  for  Pittsburg.  About  one  and  a  half 
miles  south  of  Sarah's  Furnace  there  is  a  curve  known  as 
Hard  Scrabble  Curve,  which  is  one  of  the  shortest  and 
most  dangerous  curves  on  the  road.  Here  on  this  curve 
Chalfont's  train  collided  with  the  second  section  which  was 
going  north.  Both  engines  were  about  the  same  size  and 
weight,  so  when  they  met  the  force  of  ninety-five  empty 
cars  going  north  and  forty-five  loaded  cars  going  south 
caused  the  engines  to  rear  up  in  front,  crushing  the  ma- 
chinery of  both.  Tlie  fire  from  the  boilers  immediately 
spread,  and  soon  the  oil  tanks  were  a  mass  of  flame.  As 
the  heat  grew  greater  the  tanks  exploded,  scattering  the 
blazing  oil  over  the  surface  of  the  Allegheny  River.  The 
current    was   quite   strong   and    it   carried    the   blazing   oil 


A  REMARKABLE  CASE.  69 

down-stream  for  miles,  spreading  destruction  as  it  went. 
The  heat  from  the  oil  changed  the  wreckage  into  a  mass  of 
molten  metal.  Chalfont's  fireman  was  crushed  to  death, 
as  was  his  front  brakeman.  The  same  fate  overtook  the 
engineer,  fireman  and  brakeman  of  the  north-bound  train. 
The  bodies  were  cremated  in  the  blazing  oil. 

At  this  time  oil  was  worth  from  $7.00  to  $8.00  per  barrel. 
The  amount  of  oil  lost  totals  up  to  nearly  $200,000  in  value. 
The  company's  loss  in  property  was  not  less  than  $500,000, 
besides  being  responsible  for  the  loss  of  the  five  lives.  All 
this  destruction  was  caused  by  the  incompetency  of  Chal- 
font  and  the  negligence  of  his  conductor. 

Chalfont  luckily,  or  rather  unluckily,  escaped  with  his 
life  by  springing  from  his  engine  cab  out  upon  the  bluff 
side  of  the  track.  Here  he  climbed  an  almost  perpendicular 
cliff  about  400  feet  high.  The  blaze  from  the  oil  had 
burned  nearly  all  the  clothing  from  his  back,  and  had 
singed  the  back  of  his  head  and  neck  into  a  blister.  He 
escaped  into  the  hills. 

The  officers  of  the  company  at  Pittsbiirg  were  notified 
immediately  by  wire,  and  a  wrecking  train  and  crew  were 
sent  to  the  scene  post  haste,  in  charge  of  Supt.  King. 
They  arrived  at  the  wreck  early  the  following  morning. 
Here  Supt.  King  learned  what  facts  he  could  as  to  the 
cause  of  the  wreck.  He  then  wired  to  me  to  come  to  the 
wreck  on  the  first  train.  I  was  at  Oil  City  at  the  tim^?, 
and  left  immediately,  arriving  at  the  wreck  about  noon. 
On  my  arrival  Mr.  King  walked  a  little  distance  down 
the  track,  out  of  earshot  from  the  noise  of  the  wrecking 
crew,  and  sat  down  vipon  a  log.  He  then  told  me  what  he 
had  learned  and  as  to  the  cause  of  the  wreck.  He  also 
proceeded  to  describe  Chalfont  to  me.  He  was  so  deliber- 
ate and  careful  in  this  description  that  it  took  him  nearly 


70  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

an  hour  to  do  it.  He  had  that  rare  faculty  of  being  able 
to  describe  one  person  to  another  with  accuracy.  He  then 
said,  "Tom,  do  you  think  you  could  recognize  this  man 
from  the  description  I  have  given  you?"  I  answered, 
"Yes,  I  believe  I  could.  The  description  you  have  given 
me  reminds  me  very  much  of  *Morg'  Erwin,  a  passenger 
engineer  on  the  road."  At  this  Mr.  King,  usually  very 
quiet  and  sedate,  grew  very  excited  and  clapped  his  hands 
as  if  in  joy,  exclaiming,  "Why  didn't  I  think  of  that  be- 
fore?   He  looks  like  *Morg'  Erwin." 

I  then  said,  "No,  Mr.  King,  he  looks  very  much  like  Er- 
win, but  not  exactly  like  him.  He  is  very  much  like  him 
in  some  respects,  though,  being  taller  than  Erwin.  Chal- 
font's  neck  is  longer  and  his  'Adam's  Apple'  is  much  larger 
and  more  prominent.  His  eyes  are  not  so  large  and  are 
set  back  farther  in  his  head  than  Erwin's.  Chalfont's 
cheek-bones  are  much  higher,  while  his  hair  is  more  coarse 
and  much  like  horse  hair.  In  short,  Erwnn  is  a  more  re- 
fined man  than  Chalfont." 

To  this  Mr.  King  replied,  "Tom,  I  feel  sure  that  you  will 
be  able  to  identify  that  man  on  sight,  and  I  want  you  to  get 
him  at  all  hazards.  Spare  no  time  or  trouble,  but  'GET 
HIM.'  Take  him  to  Katanning  (the  county  seat  of  West- 
moreland Co.,  Pa.,  where  this  wreck  occurred)  and  lodge 
him  in  jail." 

Mr.  King  then  told  me  that  I  would  find  the  letter  of 
recommendation  Chalfont  had  given  him  on  file  in  his  of- 
fice at  Pittsburg.  I  took  the  first  train  for  Pittsburg,  where 
I  applied  to  Mr.  Joe  Reinhart,  Mr.  King's  chief  clerk,  who 
was  later  President  of  the  great  Atchison,  Topeka  and 
Santa  Fe  System,  and  he  turned  the  letter  over  to  me. 
I  then  concluded  to  go  to  Buffalo  and  see  the  Master  Me- 
chanic of  the  Lake  Shore,  from  whose  office  the  letter  pur- 


A  REMARKABLE  CASE.  71 

ported  to  come.  At  Buffalo  I  found  the  Master  Mechanic 
and  showed  him  Chalfont's  letter.  After  reading  the  letter 
he  told  me  that  the  letter  head  was  genuine,  but  the  letter 
itself,  with  stamp,  seal  and  signature,  were  forgeries.  He 
had  neither  written  the  letter  nor  authorized  it,  but  he 
identified  Chalfont's  hand-writing.  I  learned  that  Chal- 
font  had  been  a  country  school  teacher  earlier  in  his 
life,  and  that  he  received  such  small  pay  as  such  that  he 
could  not  support  his  wife  and  children.  He  came  to  Buf- 
falo, where  he  applied  for  work  in  the  round-house  of  the 
Lake  Shore  shops  there.  He  was  given  a  position  at  wip- 
ing engines  in  the  round-house.  Here  also  his  salary  was 
too  small  to  support  his  family  and  pay  rent  at  the  same 
time,  so  he  was  forced  to  move  once  a  month  to  avoid 
paying  rent.  One  day  he  got  into  the  Master  Mechanic's 
office  and  stole  a  part  of  a  block  of  the  official  letter  heads 
of  the  company.  He  then  wrote  himself  a  letter  of  recom- 
mendation which  he  had  shown  to  Mr.  King,  and  when 
the  chance  offered  he  stamped  and  sealed  the  letter,  after 
stealing  the  stamp  one  night  from  the  office.  About  this 
time  he  became  so  lazy  and  indolent  that  he  was  repri- 
manded by  the  Master  Mechanic. 

The  Master  Mechanic  told  me  that  he  had  discharged 
Chalfont,  previous  to  his  going  to  Pittsburg,  because  of 
failure  to  pay  his  grocery  bills  and  his  rent.  The  grocers 
and  landlords  were  garnisheeing  his  wages,  and  as  the 
company  did  not  tolerate  such  things,  he  was  discharged. 
He  also  said  that  Chalfont's  family  was  somewhere  in 
Buffalo,  but  he  did  not  know  their  whereabouts  because 
they  had  moved  so  often.  I  thanked  him  for  this  informa- 
tion and  then  decided  to  see  the  Superintendent  of  Police. 

I  called  at  the  office  of  Superintendent  Phillips,  and  asked  him 
to  give  me  an  officer  who  was  more  familiar  with  the  haunts 


72 

and  dwellings  of  railroad  men  in  Buffalo  than  I  was.  He 
gladly  assented  and  assigned  Detective  Tony  Collins  to 
assist  me.  We  started  out  by  canvassing  the  grocers, 
butchers  and  milkmen  in  the  neighborhood  where  the  Lake 
Shore  Railway  men  resided.  During  the  forenoon  we 
found  many  who  knew  of  Chalfont's  family,  but  did  not 
know  where  they  were  at  present.  About  3  :oo  P.  M.,  as 
Collins  and  I  were  going  down  a  side  street  called  Hay- 
ward  St.,  I  noticed  a  group  of  six  or  eight  children  play- 
ing before  a  row  of  wooden  cottages,  or  more  properly, 
shacks.  One  little  girl  in  a  dirty  blue  dress  attracted  my 
attention  because  of  the  likeness  she  bore  to  Chalfont, 
according  to  my  description  of  him.  I  also  noticed  a 
grocery  on  the  corner  below  us.  When  we  got  to  the 
grocery  I  told  the  man  with  me,  Detective  Collins,  to  go 
back  to  the  group  and  ask  the  little  girl  in  the  blue  dress 
to  deliver  a  package  to  his  wife.  He  was  to  tell  her  that 
he  lived  in  the  large  white  house  down  the  street.  I  then 
told  him  to  return  to  the  grocery  with  the  girl  so  that  I 
could  get  a  chance  to  speak  to  her  without  exciting  her. 
He  returned  in  a  few  moments  with  the  little  girl,  who 
looked  uncommonly  like  a  little  Indian  squaw,  and  who 
proved  to  be  the  living  image  of  lier  father.  W'hile  Col- 
lins was  inside  the  store  examining  the  vegetables  I  said 
to  the  girl,  "Why,  hello,  sis.  where  is  your  uncle  Charlie 
now?"  She  smiled  and  said,  "Oh,  do  you  know  Uncle 
Charlie?"  I  said,  "Oh,  sure;  I  know  him  well."  She 
then  said,  "He  is  down  in  Pennsylvania  firing  on  a  rail- 
road." (Uncle  Charlie  was  Chalfont's  brother-in-law,  and 
had  gotten  a  position  as  fireman  at  the  same  time  Chal- 
font got  his  jjob  as  engineer.)  I  then  said  to  her,  "Is  your 
father  home  now?"  She  looked  up  and  said,  "Yes,  he  got 
home  a  couple  of  days  ago,  but  he  is  sick,  and — oh,  he  said 


A  REMARKABLE  CASE. 


73 


"Oh,  do  you  know  Uncle  Charlie?" 


74  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

I  mustn't  tell  any  one."  I  said,  "That's  all  right,  but  tell 
me  which  one  of  those  houses  do  you  live  in?"  She  said, 
"We  live  in  that  middle  one,  with  the  bunch  of  rags  stuffed 
in  the  window." 

I  attracted  Collin's  attention,  and  told  him  to  send  the 
girl  away  on  some  pretext.  We  then  went  up  to  the  house 
the  girl  had  pointed  out.  I  sent  Collins  around  to  the  back 
door  and  I  went  to  the  front  door  and  knocked.  Mrs.  Chal- 
font  opened  the  door,  and  when  I  asked  for  Joe  Chalfont 
she  attempted  to  slam  the  door  in  my  face.  I  pushed  the 
door  open  and  entered  the  house.  Seeing  no  one  in  the 
front  room  I  walked  through  it  to  the  door  of  the  back 
room.  Here  I  saw  Chalfont  seated  before  a  window  with 
his  head  and  neck  all  swathed  in  bandages.  As  1  entered 
the  room  he  said,  without  moving,  "Well,  Mr.  Furlong,  you 
have  got  me."  I  answered,  "Yes,  Joe,  I  am  sorry  to  say  I 
have."  This  showed  conclusively  that  I  had  been  pointed 
out  to  him  while  he  was  on  the  road  without  my 
knowledge.  Here  I  will  state  that  up  to  the  time  I  entered 
that  room  I  had  never  seen  Joe  Chalfont  himself,  nor  a 
picture  or  photograph  of  him.  He  had  seen  me  and  had 
heard  me  speaking  so  that  he  knew  my  voice.  I  had 
suspected  from  the  first  that  Chalfont  might  know  me,  so 
when  I  saw  the  little  girl,  whom  I  believed  was  his 
daughter,  I  did  not  stop  in  front  of  the  houses  in  which  I 
supposed  the  children  lived,  but  kept  on  to  the  grocery 
store. 

This  is  the  only  case  of  its  kind  on  record  in  which  an 
officer  picked  out  a  child  from  a  group  of  children  and 
recognized  her  from  a  description  of  her  father,  whom  the 
officer  had  never  seen. 

I  arrested  Chalfont  and  took  him  to  Katanning,  as  Mr. 
King  had  ordered.     I  then  went  to  Pittsburg  and  reported 


A  REMARKABLE  CASE.  75 

in  detail  to  General  Superintendent  J.  J.  Lawrence.  Mean- 
while it  dawned  upon  me  that  I  had  done  a  rather  com- 
mendable thing  in  arresting  this  man  Chalfont,  and  I  was 
expecting  a  little  praise  from  the  General  Superintendent. 
Imagine  my  surprise,  upon  being  ushered  into  his  office, 
at  his  beginning  to  reprimand  me  for  arresting  Chalfont. 
He  said,  "Furlong,  you  have  gotten  this  company  into  a 
lot  of  trouble  by  arresting  this  man." 

To  this  I  replied,  "Why  sir,  Mr.  King  ordered  me  to 
get  him  at  all  hazards,  and  I  simply  carried  out  his  orders." 

He  then  went  on,  in  a  most  bitter  tone,  "Well,  you  should 
not  have  done  it.  I  think  I  shall  be  forced  to  discharge 
you  for  so  doing.  From  your  reports  from  Buffalo  I  see 
that  Chalfont  was  not  an  engineer,  and,  therefore,  an  in- 
competent employe.  That  makes  this  company  liable  to 
damages  for  the  lives  lost,  and  for  all  the  property  de- 
stroyed in  that  wreck.  Don't  you  see  what  you  have 
done?" 

I  was  angered  at  his  words,  and  said,  "Col.  Lawrence, 
if  you  did  not  want  that  man  arrested  Mr.  King  should 
not  have  ordered  me  to  get  him.  I  believe  I  am  entitled 
to  some  little  credit  for  the  capture  of  this  man,  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  the  feat  is  so  far  unparalleled.  So  far  as  dis- 
charging me  goes,  that  will  be  unnecessary,  for  I  have  al- 
ready quit  the  service  of  a  company  which  does  not  ap- 
prove of  my  work." 

To  this  Col.  Lawrence  replied,  "Furlong,  I  beg  your 
pardon,  and  want  to  compliment  you  on  your  good  work 
on  this  and  other  cases,  but  when  this  case  comes  to  trial 
all  the  facts  of  Chalfont's  incompetency  will  be  laid  bare, 
;and  it  will  cost  us  a  lot  of  money." 

I  then  said,  "Oh,  I  can  fix  that." 

•"What  can  you  suggest?"  he  asked  me. 


76  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

"I  will  get  some  prominent  lawyer,"  I  said,  "to  sign  his 
bond;  he  will  be  released,  and  as  the  quarterly  session  is 
nearly  three  months  away  it  will  be  hard  to  find  him  in 
three  months." 

Col.  Lawrence  said,  "See  that  that  is  done  and  I  will 
greatly  appreciate  it." 

A  few  days  later  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Katanning  signed 
a  bond  for  Chalfont's  appearance  in  court.  He  was  re- 
leased and  at  once  set  out  for  parts  unknown.  Of  course, 
he  did  not  appear  for  trial  and  the  bond  was  declared  for- 
feited. Through  professional  courtesy  the  bond  was  never 
collected, 

Chalfont  was  not  heard  from  until  the  railroad  strike  at 
Pittsburg  in  1877,  when  he  again  appeared  in  Pittsburg 
under  an  alias,  and  got  a  job  on  the  Panhandle  Ry.,  run- 
ning a  passenger  engine  on  the  MacDonald  Accommoda- 
tion. He  got  partly  over  the  road  on  his  first  trip,  and 
failing  to  get  the  proper  amount  of  water  in  the  boiler 
the  crown-sheet  blew  out  of  the  locomotive,  scalding  his 
fireman  badly.  He  again  took  to  the  woods  and  disap- 
peared, and  to  my  knowledge  has  not  been  heard  of  since. 


TRACING  TRAIN  WRECKERS. 

REVIEW    OF    A    CRIME    WHICH    RANKS    WITH    THE    LOS    ANGELES 
DYNAMITING   CASE  FOR  HEINOUSNESS — HOW  CON- 
FESSION  WERE    OBTAINED. 

What  many  of  my  friends,  who  are  familiar  with  the 
case  in  all  of  its  details,  believe  to  have  been  my  best  piece 
of  real  detective  work  during  my  long  career  at  the  busi- 
ness, was  done  on  what  is  known  as  "The  Wyandotte 
\\Vecking  Case"  in   1886.     While  much  has  been  written 


TRACING  TRAIN  WRECKERS.  77 

about  this  case,  yet  all  the  real  facts  have  never  appeared 
in  print.  The  crime,  which  was  the  aftermath  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor  strike  on  the  Gould  Southwest  System 
that  spring,  occurred  on  the  early  morning  of  April  26th. 
Freight  train  No.  38  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  was  pulling 
slowly  into  Wyandotte,  now  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  and  on 
reaching  a  point  near  the  north  depot  en  the  banks  of 
the  Kaw  River,  the  engine  and  several  cars  suddenly  left 
the  track,  rolling  down  the  embankment  and  some  of  them 
into  the  river.  The  fireman,  Benjamin  F.  Horton,  and  the 
head  brakeman,  George  Carlisle,  who  were  on  the  engTne, 
were  pinioned  beneath  the  wreckage  and  were  dead  when 
taken  out.  The  engineer,  J.  H.  Fowler,  was  severely  in- 
jured, dying  witlnin  a  few  months  from  his  injuries.  The 
conductor,  A.  Spaulding,  who  was  in  the  cupola  of  the 
caboose,  was  thrown  from  his  seat  to  the  floor  and  pain- 
fully bruised  and  badly  shaken  up.  The  rear  brakeman, 
whose  name  I  do  not  now  remember,  was  the  only  one  of 
the  crew  to  escape  either  death  or  injury. 

The  discovery  immediately  after  the  wreck  of  unmis- 
takable evidence  that  it  had  been  caused  by  wreckers,  and 
because  of  the  prominence  of  the  men  who  had  lost  their 
lives  thereby,  caused  a  great  sensation  and  much  indigna- 
tion. The  dead  fireman  was  a  member  of  the  Brotherhood 
of  Rai\v/ay  Firemen  and  the  brakeman  a  member  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  Railway  Trainmen.  All  of  the  newspapers, 
not  only  of  Kansas  City,  but  of  the  entire  country,  de- 
nounced the  wreckers  in  no  uncertain  terms,  as  did  all 
decent  and  law-abiding  citizens.  I  will  add  right  here  that 
the  facts  brought  to  lighv  at  the  trial  of  the  men  charged 
with  this  crime,  more  than  to  any  other  one  thing,  caused 
the  disintegration  or  dissolution  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. 
In  other  words,  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  that  once 


78  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

powerful  organization.  For  the  benefit  of  those  readers 
who  are  not  familiar  with  the  history  of  this  order,  I  will 
state  that  it  had  in  1886  something  over  a  million  members. 
It  had  a  veritable  mushroom  growth.  No  class  of  people 
were  ineligible  to  membership ;  all  trades  and  professions, 
as  well  as  races  and  tongues,  provided  they  were  males 
over  18  years  of  age,  and  had  the  price  of  the  initiation  fee, 
usually  one  dollar,  could  join.  The  color  line  was  not  even 
drawn,  as  it  is  in  most  secret  societies.  Of  course,  some 
good  honest  men  were  on  its  roster  rolls,  but  it  was  domi- 
nated by  a  brazen  gang  of  mountebanks,  agitators  and 
crooked  politicians  and  others  seeking  power  and  promi- 
nence. To  gain  a  point  the  officers  of  the  organization  would 
stop  at  nothing.  If  coercion  failed  in  its  purpose,  the  boy- 
cott and  more  harsher  methods  were  substituted.  In  short, 
a  veritable  reign  of  terror  existed  throughout  the  Middle 
West.  To  illustrate  their  methods  better,  I  will  state  that 
if  a  merchant  or  other  person  in  business,  through  a  slip 
of  the  tongue  or  otherwise,  made  even  the  slightest  remark 
reflecting  on  the  order,  or  even  one  of  its  leaders,  he  was 
a  marked  man  thereafter,  his  business  ruined,  and  he,  of 
course,  driven  from  the  country.  Business  men  were  often 
subjected  to  this  treatment — and  worse — for  simply  re- 
fusing to  join  the  order.  In  many  of  the  Western  cities  it 
was  impossible  for  a  man  who  did  not  "jine"  the  order  to 
be  elected  to  office,  however  deserving  or  competent  he 
might  be. 

At  the  time  the  wreck  occurred,  I  was  very  busy  in  St. 
Louis  loking  after  cases  that  had  grown  out  of  the  great 
strike  on  the  Gould  System,  of  which  I  was  Chief  Special 
Agent.  The  strike,  which  had  been  over  but  about  a 
month,  was  a  long,  bitter  struggle,  entailing  much  work 
on  my  department,  and  had  resulted  in  a  victory  for  the 


TRACING  TRAIN  WRECKERS. 


79 


Scene  at  the  Wyandotte  wreck,  a  crime  only  paralleled  by  the  Los 
Angeles  dynamiters. 


80  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

company.  I  could  not  get  to  Wyandotte  to  investigate 
the  wreck  until  nearly  a  month  had  elapsed.  In  the  mean 
time  the  railroad  company  had  offered  $2,500  reward  for 
the  arrest  and  conviction  of  the  guilty  parties,  and  $i,ooc 
for  any  information  which  would  lead  up  to  such  convic- 
tion. After  looking  the  ground  over,  I  became  satisfied 
that  this  diabolical  crime  had  been  committed  by  some 
member,  or  members,  of  the  Knights  of  labor,  either  out 
of  revenge  or  to  harrass  the  company  and  divert  traffic 
from  the  road.  After  satisfying  myself  on  this  point,  I 
returned  to  St.  Louis  and  requested  Vice-President  Hoxie 
to  withdraw  the  offer  of  a  reward  for  the  conviction  of  the 
criminals,  as  I  was  then,  and  am  now,  opposed  to  offering 
rewards  in  such  cases.  Mr.  Hoxie  was  in  bed  sick  at  the 
time,  but  he  issued  the  order  as  requested,  and  I  promised 
him  that  I  would  personally  go  to  work  on  the  case.  A 
few  days  later,  vvdiile  I  was  engaged  in  laying  plans  for 
working  out  a  solution  of  the  case,  a  bold  attempt  was 
made  to  wreck  another  train  near  Tampoo,  a  short  dis- 
tance north  of  where  the  first  wreck  had  occurred.  A 
couple  of  guards  were  on  this  train  and  these  men  and 
some  of  the  crew,  who  saw  the  wreckers,  gave  chase  and 
succeeded  in  arresting  one  of  them.  This  man  proved  to 
be  O.  J.  Lloyd,  a  member  of  the  Executive  Board  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  in  charge  of  the  late  strike.  Prior  to  the 
strike  he  had  been  employed  by  the  Missouri  Pacific  Com- 
pany as  a  switchman  and  had  been  a  very  active  member 
of  the  committee. 

About  this  time  my  department  was  badly  in  need  of  a 
thoroughly  trained  criminal  lawyer  to  prosecute  the  cases 
growing  out  of  the  big  strike,  and  at  my  earnest  solicita- 
tion, Marshall  F.  McDonald,  former  Circuit  Attorney  of 
St.   Louis,  one  of  the  best  criminal  lawyers  of  his  time, 


TRACING  TR  AIN  WRECKERS  81 

was  retained  by  the  company  for  the  purposes  named,  and 
given  authority  by  Vice-President  Hoxie  to  employ  all 
other  counsel  needed.  Mr.  McDonald  accordingly  em- 
ployed Ex-Judge  Laughlin  and  Judge  R.  S.  McDonald  to 
assist  him.  A  few  days  later,  these  three  lawyers  and  my- 
self met  the  Hon.  Bailie  P.  Waggoner,  General  Attorney 
for  the  State  of  Kansas  for  the  company,  by  appointment 
at  Kansas  City.  We  visited  the  scene  of  the  crime.  As  we 
were  on  the  bank  overlooking  the  place  where  the  engine 
and  cars  had  left  tlic  rails,  I  told  the  lawyers  that  I  was 
satisfied  that  Lloyd,  the  man  in  jail  for  the  Tampoo  af- 
fair, was  also  implicated  in  the  Wyandotte  crime,  and  that 
I  proposed  to  get  a  confession  from  him. 

"How  are  you  going  to  go  about  it,  Tom?"  asked  Judge 
McDonald. 

"I  am  going  to  get  it  through  a  Knight  of  Labor,"  I  re- 
plied, and  gave  the  gentlemen  a  short  outline  of  the  plan 
I  had  evolved  in  my  mind  for  getting  the  confession.  After 
I  had  finished  the  law3'ers  all  thought  my  scheme  was  a 
good  one,  but  not  one  of  them  thought  it  could  be  carried 
out.  I  will  admit  that,  because  of  the  peculiar  situation  in 
Wyandotte  County  at  that  time,  I  knew  I  would  have  to 
be  very  careful  or  my  scheme  would  not  work.  The  mayor, 
sheriff,  jailor  and,  in  fact,  all  of  the  city  and  county  of- 
ficials, even  policemen  and  constables,  excepting  Judge 
Ilineman  of  the  Circuit  Court,  were  members  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  and  of  the  same  local  lodge  as  the 
prisoner,  consequently  were  very  friendly  disposed  towards 
him.  As  every  one  familiar  witli  such  organizations  as 
the  Knights  of  Labor  knows,  I  would  have  had  but  little 
trouble  to  find  a  mcinb.cr  aniong  them  who  would  betray 
the  secrets  of  the  order  for  a  few  paltry  dollars  and  thus 
enable  me  to  obtain   the  information   I   so  much   desired 


82  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

from  Lloyd,  but  I  decided  on  another  plan,  as  I  never  con- 
sidered a  man  who  would  violate  his  obligation  to  be  up- 
right and  honorable.  In  a  word,  in  trusting  such  men 
one  is  liable  to  receive  what  is  known  in  slang  parlance  as 
"the  double  cross." 

Locked  up  in  a  safe  in  my  office  was  a  ritual  and  by-laws 
of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  and  a  book  of  instructions  show- 
ing how  to  initiate  new  members,  together  with  the  annual 
and  semi-annual  pass  words,  and  the  "hailing"  and  "dis- 
tress" signs  and  various  signals  used  by  the  members  of 
the  order,  so  I  decided  to  set  up  a  little  Knight  of  Labor 
factory  of  my  own  and  make  a  member  that  I  could  trust 
with  the  work  in  hand.  I  had  an  operative  in  my  employ 
at  that  time  named  George  Fowle.  He  had  for  a  long  time 
been  in  the  train  service  of  different  railroads  of  the  coun- 
try, and  I  selected  him  as  the  man  to  be  trusted  with  se- 
curing the  confession  from  Lloyd.  I  took  Fowle  into  my 
private  office,  and  after  instructing  him  carefully  as  to  how 
to  carry  out  my  plans,  he  was  initiated  into  the  mysteries 
of  the  order.  We  took  our  time  and  went  through  the 
initiatory  work  carefully,  so  that  when  Fowle  left  for 
Wyandotte  the  next  day  to  play  the  part  of  Brother  Al- 
fred in  the  drama  that  I  had  staged  for  that  town,  he  was 
as  well  posted  on  the  secret  work  of  the  order  as  though 
he  had  just  passed  through  the  Grand  Assembly,  as  the 
governing  body  of  the  order  was  called. 

On  arriving  at  Wyandotte,  Brother  Alfred  proceeded  at 
once  to  the  headquarters  of  the  organization,  where  he 
made  himself  known  as  a  special  envoy  and  minister 
plenipotentiary  of  the  head  assembly  of  the  order  at  Scran- 
ton,  Pa.  His  mission  was  to  investigate  tlie  conditions  as 
he  found  them  in  Wyandotte,  so  that  the  head  officers  at 
Scranton  would  know  exactly  what  was  going  on  in  the 


TRACING  TRAIN  WRECKERvS.  83 

west.  He  also  hinted  that  the  General  Master  Workman 
and  Grand  Treasurer  Hayes  had  empowered  him  to  use  his 
own  judgment  alfout  what  was  to  be  done  in  the  case  of 
Lloyd,  who  was  in  jail  on  the  train  wrecking  charge. 

Brother  Alfred  also  called  on  the  sheriff,  who  was  a 
Knight  of  Labor,  and  after  giving  him  the  grip,  asked  to 
be  allowed  to  consult  with  Lloyd.  The  sheriiT  readily 
granted  the  request  and  Brother  Alfred  was  ushered  into 
the  jail,  where  he  was  closeted  with  Lloyd  for  more  than 
an  hour  and  a  half.  After  introducing  himself  to  Lloyd, 
Brother  Alfred  dispensed  with  all  formalities  and  at  once 
began  a  discussion  of  the  charge  against  the  prisoner.  "Of 
course,  Mr.  Powderly,  Mr.  Hayes  and  the  other  head  of- 
ficers of  the  order  and  myself,  know  that  you  are  all  right, 
Lloyd,  and  that  you  will  not  make  a  confession,  but  in 
cases  of  this  kind,  where  there  are  so  many  on  the  job, 
some  one  will  squeal  when  they  are  arrested,  as  they  all 
will  be,  for  the  Goulds  have  a  lot  of  detectives  on  the  case, 
headed  by  Tom  Furlong,  and  it  is  only  a  question  of  time 
until  they  are  all  run  down.  Furlong,  as  you  know,  is  not 
only  a  great  detective,  but  he  is  also  very  unscrupulous 
and  will  not  stop  at  anything  to  secure  a  conviction  in 
these  cases.  Now,  the  order  at  this  time  cannot  afford  to 
have  this  crime  laid  at  its  door.  If  one  of  the  men  impli- 
cated in  it  would  confess,  wdiich  some  of  them  would  be 
sure  to  do,  as  I  stated  before,  it  would  be  a  great  blow  to 
the  order  and  cast  an  odium  over  it  that  would  take  years 
to  eradicate.  Another  thing,  the  men  charged  with  this 
crime  could  not  get  a  fair  trial  here  at  this  time,  as  the 
people  here  are  very  sore,  as  are  the  members  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  Firemen  and  Brotherhood  of  Trainmen, 
of  which  orders  the  two  men  killed  in  the  wreck  were 
members.     I  have,  therefore,  evolved  a  scheme  to  outwit 


84  FIFTY  YEARvS  A  DETECITVE. 

these  capitalistic  bloodhounds,  and  tlius  sa^'e  the  order.  I 
have  a  lawyer  over  in  the  city  from  headquarters,  Brother 
Thomas,  who  will  get  you  out  of  here  on  bond,  and  I  will 
take  you  east  and  get  you  a  job  on  a  railroad  where  Fur- 
long cannot  find  you,  and  will  do  the  same  thing  with  the 
other  men  who  were  with  you." 

"That  is  true  about  some  of  the  gang  squealing,"  replied 
Lloyd,  "We  have  been  afraid  of  at  least  two  of  them 
giving  the  snap  away,  and  I  know  they  will  do  it  if  they 
ever  fall  into  the  clutches  of  Furlong  and  his  hirelings." 

Lloyd  further  expressed  himself  as  being  delighted  with 
the  scheme,  and  within  a  few  hours  he  wa<^  released  from 
jail  and  taken  by  Brother  Alfred  in  a  circuitous  route 
through  Kansas  City  to  Independence,  Mo.,  where  the  two 
boarded  a  train  for  St.  Louis.  I  had  been  informed  of  their 
movements  by  wire,  and  had  one  of  my  operatives  meet 
them  at  the  Union  Station  and  escort  them  to  the  room  of 
another  operative  in  my  employ  at  17th  and  Pine  Streets. 
That  evening  Marshall  F.  McDonald  and  myself  and  a 
stenographer  called  at  the  room,  and  I  was  introduced  to 
Lloyd  as  the  ''headquarter's  attorney,"  Brother  Thomas. 
I  corroborated  all  that  Brother  Alfred  had  told  Lloyd, 
and  O.  K.'d  the  scheme  to  get  all  of  these  men  in  the  job 
out  of  the  country,  and  promised  to  do  all  I  could  to  further 
the  scheme.  Lloyd  then  gave  us  the  names  of  his  partners 
in  the  crime.  They  were  George  H.  Hamilton,  Mike 
Leary,  Robert  Geers,  Fred  Newport  and  William  Vassen, 
all  prominent  and  active  members  of  the  local  executive 
board  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. 

The  next  morning,  Lloyd,  in  charge  of  Operatives  Bon- 
nell,  McCabe  and  two  guards,  and  myself,  boarded  a  special 
car  at  Union  Station,  and  it  was  attached  to  west-bound 
passenger  train  No.  i.     Of  course,  Lloyd  did  not  know  he 


TRACING  TRAIN  WRECKERS.  85 

was  in  charge  of  officers.  At  Independence  the  special  car 
was  placed  on  a  siding  and  I  went  on  to  Kansas  City. 
The  next  morning,  which  was  Sunday,  a  conference  was 
held  at  the  St.  James  Hotel  between  the  attorneys  for  the 
Pacific  Company  and  myself.  It  was  late  in  the  evening 
when  the  conference  ended,  after  which  I  decided  to  at 
once  arrest  the  men  named  by  Lloyd  as  his  partners  in 
the  Wyandotte  crime.  I  proceeded  to  Wyandotte  and  pro- 
cured the  warrants.  As  the  arrests  had  to  be  made  quickly, 
and  all  my  experienced  men  in  that  vicinity  were  in  Inde- 
pendence guarding  the  special  car,  I  secured  the  services 
of  Frank  Tutt,  who  had  been  employed  by  me  as  a  guard 
for  the  railroad  during  the  strike,  to  go  with  the  sheriff  and 
myself  to  make  the  arrests. 

The  first  man  arrested  was  George  Hamilton,  chairman 
of  the  executive  committee  in  charge  of  the  strike.  We 
found  him  in  VicRoy  Park,  Armourdale,  where  he  was 
acting  as  a  special  policeman.  When  Hamilton  was  pointed 
out  to  me,  I  approached  him  saying: 

'T  want  you,  officer." 

"What  for?"  asked  Hamilton. 

"Murder,"  I  replied. 

Had  Hamilton  been  cracked  on  the  head  with  his  own 
club  he  would  not  have  been  more  surprised.  Before  he 
could  recover  the  club  was  taken  from  his  hand  and  his 
pistol  from  his  pocket,  and  his  big  star  from  over  his  pal- 
pitating heart.  He  made  a  feeble  attempt  to  get  indignant, 
but  failed  lamentably  and  broke  down  completely,  and 
wanted  to  confess.     He  was  taken  to  jail  and  locked  up. 

We  then  got  in  the  hack  and  were  driven  to  Armourdale, 
where  we  arrested  Robert  Geers,  after  breaking  through 
several  doors.  While  arresting  Geers  we  came  near  getting 
our  heads  blown  off  by  an  irate  roomer,  whose  door  we 


86  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

had  broken  open  by  mistake.  After  locking  up  Geers,  we 
went  across  the  river  and  stopped  in  front  of  a  shack  in 
the  bottoms,  and  entering  it  arrested  Fred  Newport  and 
took  him  to  jail,  leaving  his  wife  and  six  children  in  tears. 

We  then  visited  Kansas  City  and  arrested  Mike  Leary. 
He  was  locked  up  about  4:30  A.  M.  There  was  one  man 
yet  missing,  William  Vossen.  We  experienced  consider- 
able trouble  in  locating  him.  He  had  left  his  home  to  go 
to  work  for  Wood  Bros.,  the  Kansas  City  ice  dealers,  where 
he  was  employed  as  a  driver  to  deliver  ice.  We  obtained 
a  list  of  his  customers,  and  finally  overtook  him  near  the 
Kansas  City  Union  Depot,  at  about  seven  o'clock.  He 
broke  down  at  once  and  wanted  to  confess.  After  a  good 
breakfast  I  took  him  to  the  St.  James  Hotel  in  Kansas  City 
and  into  the  presence  of  the  attorneys  for  the  company. 
The  prisoner  broke  into  tears,  as  soon  as  we  entered  the 
room,  and  made  a  piteous  appeal  to  the  gentlemen  to  see 
that  the  wants  of  his  sick  wife  and  children  were  attended 
to.  "I  have  never  been  arrested  before,  and  I  was  led 
into  this.  I  went  into  it  at  the  point  of  a  pistol,"  he  said, 
crying  bitterly.  "Damn  the  Knights  of  Labor,"  he  con- 
tinued, and  expressed  the  intention  of  making  a  clean 
breast  of  the  whole  affair.  He  was  told  by  both  the  law- 
yers and  myself  that  he  did  not  have  to  talk  if  he  did  not 
want  to.  "I  have  been  weighted  down  too  long;  I  want  to 
tell  all  about  it.  I  will  sufifer,  I  guess,  but  I  deserve  it." 
Then  he  made  a  full  confession,  giving  the  most  minute 
details  of  the  terrible  crime. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  gang,  according  to  the  confes- 
sion, to  wreck  a  passenger  train.  The  tools  with  which 
the  spikes  were  pulled,  and  the  fish  plates  removed,  were 
stolen  from  a  tool  house  of  the  company,  located  between 
the  depot  and  the  scene  of  the  wreck. 


TRACING  TRAIN  WRECKERS.  87 

Geers  and  Newport  also  made  confessions,  and  all  these 
men  took  the  stand  at  the  trial  of  the  defendants  when  they 
were  arraigned  the  following  January.  The  testimony  of 
these  men  was  corroborated  in  every  detail,  but  the  jury 
failed  to  reach  a  verdict,  standing  7  to  5  for  acquittal.  The 
Knights  of  Labor  representatives,  through  the  court  of- 
ficers, who  w^ere  all,  excepting  Judge  Hineman,  members 
of  the  order,  had  succeeded  in  getting  several  of  its  mem- 
bers on  the  jury.  The  Knights  of  Labor  employed  the  best 
attorneys  in  the  west  to  defend  the  men.  Among  them 
were  Ex-Governor  Chas.  P.  Johnson,  Ex-Senator  William 
Warner,  Thomas  P.  Fenlon  and  others ;  in  fact,  the  ofificers 
of  the  order  spent  money  very  freely  to  Bring  about  the 
desired  end. 

After  the  mistrial,  the  attorneys  for  the  defense  made  ap- 
plication for  a  change  of  venue,  and  the  cases  were  sent  to 
Olathe,  The  officers  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  immediately 
send  a  swarm  of  organizers  into  Olathe  and  Johnson 
County,  and  through  coercion  and  other  mysterious 
methods,  succeeded  in  getting  almost  every  male  citizen 
of  the  county  into  the  order.  The  second  trial  resulted  in 
another  farce,  the  jury  again  being  packed  with  Knights  of 
Labor. 

About  this  time  there  was  a  change  of  management  in 
the  legal  department  of  the  road,  and  the  cases  were  all 
nollied  at  the  request  of  the  company — even  the  three  men 
who  had  made  confessions  were  turned  loose. 

Peculiar  conditions  existed  in  the  west  at  that  time. 
The  laboring  men  knew  nothing  about  the  real  benefits 
of  unionism.  They  had  been  herded  into  the  Knights  of 
Labor  like  sheep  into  a  pen,  and  were  educated  by  those 
who  led  them  into  believing  that  any  kind  of  crime  was 
all  right  when  committed  during  a  strike,  or  against  a  firm 


88  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

or  company  against  which  there  was  a  grievance,  and  the 
latter  were  often,  as  in  the  case  of  the  big  strike  on  the 
Gould  System,  proved  to  be  imaginary. 

I  and  my  men  were  only  interested  in  this  strike  in  so 
far  as  it  was  our  duty  to  see  that  no  acts  of  violence  were 
committed ;  in  short,  to  protect  the  company's  property 
from  vandals  and  thieves.  The  rank  and  file  of  the  order 
were  led  to  believe  by  their  leaders,  however,  that  we 
were  a  lot  of  crooks,  who  regarded  a  man's  liberty  and  life 
lightly  and  would  violate  any  of  the  laws  on  the  statute 
books  to  secure  a  conviction  in  any  case  we  were  called 
into.  And  strange  to  say.  there  are  some  men  who  believe 
this  to  be  true,  even  to  this  day. 

I  want  to  say  right  here,  that  this  crime  was  one  of  the 
most  diabolical  and  fiendish  crimes  of  the  century.  Had 
it  not  been  for  a  mere  accident,  a  loaded  passenger  train 
would  have  been  wrecked  instead  of  the  freight,  but, 
luckily,  the  passenger  was  late,  and  the  freight  was  given 
orders  at  Leavenworth  to  proceed  into  Wyandotte  on  the 
passenger  train's  time,  with  the  disastrous  results  told  in 
the  preceding  portions  of  this  narrative.  The  officers  of 
the  Knights  of  Labor  knew  these  men  were  guilty,  for  three 
of  them  had  gone  on  the  witness  stand  and  testified  to  the 
facts,  while  Lloyd,  one  of  the  leaders,  had  furnished  evi- 
dence to  corroborate  them. 

The  investigation,  at  the  next  grand  assembly  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  at  the  insistence  of  a  few  good  men  in 
the  order  as  to  how  much  money  had  been  spent  in  defense 
of  these  men,  revealed  a  big  scandal  within  the  order. 
While  it  was  true  that  a  great  deal  of  money  had  been  ex- 
pended, yet  it  was  learned  that  the  sum  was  not  more 
than  one-fourth  of  the  amount  claimed  by  the  officers  in 
charge  of  this  fund. 


TRACING  TI^IN  WRECKERS.  89 

The  amount  of  money  expended  by  me  for  the  com- 
pany, in  working  up  the  case,  was  very  small,  as  all  of  the 
men  who  did  any  work  on  the  case  were  employed  by  the 
month  on  a  regular  salary  and  expenses.  In  fact,  there 
were  not  cents  expended  in  this  case,  when  dollars  were 
expended  in  running  down  the  dynamiters  who  blew  up  the 
Los  Angeles  Times,  the  latter  crime  being  the  only  one 
which  has  occurred  within  my  time  that  could  at  all  com- 
pare with  the  Wyandotte  wrecking  case  for  cold-blooded 
fiendishness.  It  is  also  the  only  case  in  which  big  rolls 
of  money  were  expended  by  labor  organizations,  knowing 
that   the   men   were   guilty. 

Because  of  my  work  in  this  case,  I  incurred  the  lasting 
enmity  of  all  the  heads  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  from  Ter- 
rance  V.  Powderly,  the  Grand  Master,  on  down  the  line. 
This  was  evidenced  several  years  later.  In  1889,  I 
was  tendered  the  position  as  chief  of  the  secret  service 
bureau  of  the  treasury  department  at  Washington  by 
President  Harrison.  I  was  not  overly  anxious  to  accept 
the  job,  as  the  pay  at  that  time  was  only  $3,600  per  year, 
and  I  had  a  good  business  in  St.  Louis,  as  head  of  the 
agency  which  bears  my  name,  but  at  the  solicitation  of 
friends,  I  agreed  to  accept  the  position.  Somehow,  the 
fact  that  I  was  to  be  the  new  chief  of  the  secret  service  had 
leaked  out  in  Washington,  and  immediately  the  Knights  of 
Labor  "tipped  their  hand,"  to  use  a  slang  phrase.  The 
President  had  gone  to  Deer  Park,  Maryland,  to  recover 
from  the  fatigue  caused  by  his  inauguration,  and  his  few 
first  months  of  service.  Telegrams  poured  in  on  Tilm  from 
all  points  of  the  United  States.  They  came  from  the  east 
and  the  west,  and  from  tlie  north  and  the  south,  and  from 
towns  I  had  not  known  were  on  the  map.  Some  of  these 
telegrams  were  long  and  others  short,  but  all  showed  the 


90  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

vindictivencss  of  the  members  of  the  order  towards  me-  After 
the  President  returned  from  Washington  he  sent  for  me,  and 
on  my  arrival  at  the  White  House,  told  me  of  the  protests. 
To  offset  these,  I  presented  letters  from  Ex-Governor  John- 
son and  Major  William  Warner,  chief  counsel  for  the  men  i 
had  arrested  for  the  Wyandotte  crime,  which  .stated  in  terms 
that  could  not  be  misconstrued,  that  I  had  done  nothing  I)ut 
my  duty  in  that  case,  and  testifying  further  that  I  had  been 
very  respectful  and  magnanimous  to  the  prisoners  on  trial 
— in  short,  that  I  had  done  nothing  to  secure  a  conviction 
that  was  not  entirely  honorable. 

"You  are  all  right.  Furlong,  and  I  am  going  to  appoint 
you,  as  soon  as  this  storm  dies  down  a  little,"  said  the  Presi- 
dent. Of  course,  I  was  a  little  put  out  by  the  delay,  and 
told  the  President  that  if  I  accepted  the  place  my  commis- 
sion w^ould  have  to  be  handed  me  not  later  than  January  ist. 
After  further  assurance  from  the  President  that  I  would 
have  my  commission  before  the  date  mentioned,  I  returned 
home.  A  few  days  before  January  ist  I  was  again  called 
to  Washington  by  the  President.  I  visited  the  White  House 
in  company  with  the  Hon.  Richard  Kerens.  After  a  short 
discussion  of  the  matter,  the  President  told  me  to  go  over 
to  the  treasury  department  and  get  my  commission.  On  my 
arrival  there,  I  did  not  find  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Windom,  in, 
he  being  detained  at  home  on  account  of  sickness.  My  pres- 
ence in  Washington  again  revived  the  rumors  that  I  was  to 
be  appointed,  and  these  rumors  also  put  the  Knights  of  Labor 
to  work  again,  with  the  result  that  the  White  House  was 
again  flooded  with  a  lot  of  telegrams  protesting  against  my 
appointment,  and  my  commission  was  again  held  up.  I  then 
dropped  the  matter  and  returned  to  St.   Louis. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  state  that  I  assumed  at  the  time 
all  the  responsibility   for  the  manner  in  which  the  evidence 


"MOONSHINING"  IN  THE  OIL  REGIONS.        91 

in  this  case  had  been  secured.  The  plan  for  obtaining  the 
confession  from  Lloyd,  which,  in  reality,  was  the  beginning 
of  the  case  against  the  men,  was  worked  out  myself;  Fowle, 
or  Brother  Alfred,  as  he  was  known,  simply  played,  or  acted 
the  part  assigned  him.  True,  he  played  the  part  fairly  well, 
and  carried  out  my  instructions  to  the  letter-  At  the  time  of 
the  arrests,  and  on  several  occasions  thereafter,  a  certain 
strike  guard  employed  by  the  company,  succeeded  in  get- 
ting his  name  and  picture  into  the  papers  of  Kansas  City  as 
one  of  the  chief  unravelers  of  the  mystery  surrounding  the 
crime,  but  he  had  absolutely  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
the  capture  of  the  criminals,  beyond  guarding  them  after 
the  arrests  had  been  made  by  Sheriff  Ferguson  and  myself. 
The  "dope"  he  handed  the  papers  was  mere  rot.  There  was 
also  considerable  said  in  the  papers  about  the  part  a  wig 
would  play  in  the  case  prior  to  the  trial,  but  all  who  were 
present  at  the  trial  will  remember  that  the  wig  was  not  in- 
troduced in  evidence.  This  wig  was  a  "pipe  dream,"  to  use 
a  slang  expression. 


"MOONSHINING"  IN  THE  OIL  REGIONS. 

DESPERATE    STRUGGLE    ON    A    BRIDGE    WITH    A   THIEF    CARRYING 

A  CARBOY  FILLED  WITH  NITROGLYCERINE NARROW 

ESCAPE    FROM    DEATH    OF    PRISONER 
AND    CAPTOR. 

Early  in  the  70's,  while  I  was  Chief  of  Police  of  Oil  City, 
Pa.,  a  long,  wo'oden  covered  bridge  spanned  the  Allegheny 
River  at  Oil  City.  This  bridge  was  at  least  fifteen  hundred 
feet  in  length,  had  a  driveway  through  its  center  wide  enough 
lor  two  vehicles  to  pass  each  other.  This  driveway  was  boarded 
up  closely  with  siding,  which  separated  it  on  either  side  from 


92  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

the  footwalks,  which  were  about  six  feet  in  width  with  a  high 
railing  on  the  outside.  There  were  Hghts  at  intervals  along 
the  footwalks,  about  a  hundred  feet  apart.  The  main  structure 
of  the  bridge  was  about  forty  feet  above  the  river. 

The  bridge  connected  Oil  City  and  South  Oil  City,  extend- 
ing from  the  south  end  of  Seneca  Street  in  Oil  City  to  South 
Oil  City.  South  Oil  City  then,  as  it  is  now,  was  the  principal 
residence  portion  of  the  city,  wliile  the  north  side  of  the  river 
was,  and  is,  the  business  portion.  This  bridge  was  a  toll 
bridge,  and  there  were  night  and  day  toll  collectors  stationed 
at  the  little  house  provided  for  their  use  at  the  north  end  of 
the  bridge.  Their  duty  v-/as  to  collect  the  toll  from  all  drivers 
of  vehicles,  and  two  cents  from  each  pedestrian  wdio  passed 
their  window  at  the  toll  house. 

There  lived  in  Oil  City  at  that  time  a  notorious  character 
by  the  name  of  Tommy  Griffith,  whose  face  and  form  had 
become  familiar  to  all  the  residents  of  the  town,  also  of  the 
adjacent  country.  Griffith  was  a  Welchman  by  birth,  middle 
aged,  stout  and  heavily  built  in  stature ;  had  a  wife  and  a  large 
family,  and  resided  in  South  Oil  City,  at  that  time  owning 
his  own  home,  and  was  apparently  fairly  prosperous.  He  was 
a  man  addicted  to  drink,  and  was  known  throughout  the  coun- 
try as  the  "Prince  of  Moonshiners." 

IMoonshiners,  in  the  oil  region,  were  men  wdio  made  a  busi- 
ness of  putting  explosives,  which  were  called  torpedoes,  into 
oil  wells  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  flow  of  oil.  The 
oil-bearing  rock,  or  crevices  in  the  oil-bearing  rock,  which 
were  usually  found  near  the  bottom  of  the  oil  wells,  w^ould  get 
clogged  with  an  accumulation  of  parafine.  After  the  well  had 
been  producing  for  a  while  the  inlet  to  the  well  would  become 
clogged  with  this  accumulation,  when  the  owner  of  the  well 
would  resort  to  the  torpedo.  These  torpedoes  were  composed 
of  a  tin  can  or  case,  which  would  hold  from  one  to  four  quarts 


"MOONSHINING"  IN  THE  OIL  REGIONS.  93 

of  nitro-glycerine,  which  is  a  liquid  that  resembles  lard  oil  very 
much,  and  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  explosives  known,  if 
not  the  most  powerful.  The  cases,  or  tin  cans,  were  round 
and  nearly  the  size  of  the  wells  in  diameter.  The  oil  wells 
in  those  days  were  usually  four  and  one-half  or  five  inches 
in  diameter.  The  cases  were  long  enough  to  hold  the  quantity 
required  for  the  explosion,  and  were  lowered  from  the  top 
of  the  well  by  means  of  a  copper  wire,  which  was  attached 
to  the  percussion  cap  at  the  proper  depth  in  the  well,  then  a 
heavy  weight,  the  wire  through  its  center,  would  be  sent  down 
from  the  top  over  the  wire  and  would  strike  the  cap  on  the 
torpedo.  This  would  cause  the  explosion,  and  would  shatter 
the  oil-bearing  rock  and  jar  the  parafine,  thereby  making  the 
opening  by  which  the  oil  found  its  way  into  the  well,  and 
increased  the  production  wonderfully  for  a  period,  or  until 
the  opening  became  clogged  again  from  the  same  causes.  Then 
the  same  remedy  would  be  applied,  and  for  this  reason  the 
torpedo  business  was  a  very  profitable  business,  as  this  nitro- 
glycerine was  sold  at  the  rate  of  about  ten  dollars  per  quart. 
There  was,  at  the  time  I  am  writing  of,  a  company  known 
as  the  Roberts  Torpedo  Co.,  who  had  a  monopoly  of  all  the 
explosives  and  torpedoes  used  in  the  oil  wells  for  the  purpose 
before  mentioned.  The  Roberts  Company  owned  and  operated 
the  factories  at  which  nitro-glycerine  was  made.  They  em- 
ployed only  men  who  were  experts  in  the  torpedo  business, 
as  the  handling  of  torpedoes  was  very  hazardous  and  danger- 
ous, the  nitro-glycerine  being  treacherous  and  liable  to  ex- 
plode at  any  time,  either  from  concussion,  friction  or  heat. 
In  fact,  nitro-glycerine  is  liable  to  explode  spontaneously 
or  without  any  apparent  cause,  so  that  the  most  expert 
handler  of  the  stuff  does  not  really  know  when 
he  may  consider  himself  safe  when  near  a  quan- 
tity    of  it.       The     Roberts     Company     also  had  a     num- 


94  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

ber  of  what  they  call  magazines,  which  were  located 
in  isolated  spots  all  through  the  oil  regions.  These  magazines 
were  places  for  storing  quantities  of  the  nitro-glycerine,  and 
usually  close  to  a  producing  district,  so  that  the  operator  in 
charge  of  said  district  could  obtain  a  supply  of  it  when  he 
required  it  for  use  in  his  territory.  The  moonshiner  made  a 
practice  of  breaking  into  these  magazines  and  stealing  the 
explosives,  which  usually  were  placed  in  a  square  tin  can  which 
held  from  twenty  to  forty  pounds.  These  heavy  tin  cans,  or 
cases,  were  called  carboys,  and  had  a  heavy  wire  handle 
attached  to  the  top  with  a  short  spout  at  one  corner  of  the 
top  of  the  carboy  from  which  the  nitro-glycerine  could  be 
poured.  As  I  said  before,  it  was  like  lard  oil,  and  of  about 
the  same  consistency  . 

These  moonshiners  would  steal  three  or  four  carboys  at  a 
time,  concealing  it  in  the  mountains,  and  when  they  got  an 
order  from  a  producer  for  a  torpedo  they  would  fill  the  order 
and  put  in  the  torpedo  in  proper  shape,  as  they  were  as  expert 
in  the  handling  of  this  dangerous  explosive  as  the  Roberts 
Company's  men  were,  as  many  of  them  were  ex-employes  of 
that  company.  Prejudice  existed  among  the  smaller  producers 
against  the  Roberts  Torpedo  Company,  as  they  complained 
that  the  Roberts  Company  were  charging  them  extortionate 
prices  for  torpedoes,  therefore  the  moonshiners  were  protected 
to  an  extent  in  their  nefarious  business. 

Upon  the  night  of  which  I  am  writing  it  was  after  midnight 
when  I  left  my  office  at  the  Ciiy  Hall  on  the  north  side,  and 
started  for  my  home  on  the  south  side.  I  started  on  foot, 
and  when  I  reached  about  the  middle  of  the  bridge  before 
described,  I  heard  footsteps  coming  towards  me  on  the  same 
foot-walk  that  I  was  on.  I  looked  up  and  saw  and  recognized 
the  familiar  form  of  Tommy  Griffith,  as  he  was  passing  a 
light  which  was  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from  me.    He 


"MOONSHINING"  IN  THE  OIL  REGIONS.  95 

was  coming  directly  towards  me,  and  was  evidently  intoxi- 
cated, as  he  staggered  from  side  to  side  of  the  foot-walk.  First 
he  would  stagger  against  the  enclosed  side,  and  then  back  to 
the  outside  railing.  Every  time  he  came  in  contact  with  the 
bridge  I  could  hear  a  slight  thud.  He  was  carrying  a  gunny- 
sack  upon  his  shoulder,  containing  a  carboy  of  nitro-glycerine, 
and  I  thought  it  would  explode  any  moment,  as  he  was  con- 
tinually striking  it  against  the  sides  of  the  bridge  as  he 
staggered.  Then  again  he  was  liable  to  stumble  and  let  it 
fall,  which  would  have  been  fatal  both  to  himself,  me  and 
the  bridge.  I  thought  of  all  of  these  things  in  a  great  deal 
shorter  time  than  it  has  taken  me  to  write  about  it.  It  was 
in  the  winter,  and  I  was  wearing  rubber  overshoes,  and  for 
this  reason  I  made  no  noise  in  walking.  After  recognizing 
Griffith  and  his  condition,  I  instantly  turned  and  started  back 
for  the  north  side  of  the  bridge.  I  am  satisfied  that  I  made  a 
record-breaking  sprint  until  I  got  safely  to  the  toll  house  at 
the  end  of  the  bridge,  where  I  hastily  told  Samuel  Ervin, 
who  was  on  duty  as  night  toll  collector.  I  insisted  on  Ervin 
remaining  at  his  position  as  usual  until  Griffith  arrived  at  the 
window,  where  I  felt  sure  he  would  stop  long  enough  to  pay 
his  toll.  Ervin  was  sitting  in  a  bay  window  with  a  slide  in 
front  of  him  through  which  he  could  take  the  toll,  and  he 
could  also  see  every  person  coming  or  going  over  the  bridge. 
I  hid  myself  around  the  angle  of  the  bay  window  in  such  a 
manner  that  Griffith  could  not  see  me  as  he  approached  the 
toll  window,  and  when  he  neared  the  window  he  presented 
his  toll  with  his  right  hand  while  he  was  holding  the  end  of 
the  gunnysack  with  his  left  hand.  This  bag  contained  the 
carboy  and  was  hanging  over  his  back.  I  noiselessly  approached 
him  from  behind,  and,  seizing  the  gunnysack  containing  the 
carboy,  jerked  it  away  from  him,  while  Ervin  held  on  to  his 
collar  so  firmly  that  he  could  not  get  away  or  int«rfere  with 


96 


FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 


"Recognizing  Griffith   and  seeing  he  was  loaded  down  with  nitro- 
glycerine, I  hot-footed  it  to  the  end  of  the  bridge. " 


"MOONSHINING"  IN  THE  OIL  REGIONS.  97 

me  until  I  had  deposited  the  case  of  nitro-glycerine  on  the 
ground,  which,  of  course,  did  not  take  me  very  long.  I  then 
grabbed  Mr.  Griffith,  and  he  being  a  husky,  stout  little  fellow, 
and  full  of  pluck  and  whiskey,  made  a  struggle,  but  I  quickly 
overpowered  him  and  promptly  conveyed  him  to  the  lock-up. 

I  then  returned  to  where  I  had  deposited  the  nitro-glycerine. 
I  found  Mr.  Ervin  standing  upon  the  railroad  crossing,  which 
was  about  seventy-five  or  a  hundred  feet  from  the  tool  house. 
I  was  then  obliged  to  carry  the  carboy  of  nitro-glycerine  on 
my  shoulder  to  the  nearest  Roberts  magazine,  which  was 
located  in  a  ravine  known  as  Sage  Rvm,  and  about  three  miles 
from  the  north  end  of  the  bridge.  The  carboy  weighed  about 
forty  pounds,  and  the  walking  was  icy  and  slippery,  and  of 
course  my  progress  was  necessarily  very  slow.  It  was  nearly 
daylight  when  I  got  home.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  I  was 
very  tifed. 

We  had  been  informed  of  the  theft  of  more  than  a  ton  of 
nitro-glycerine  from  a  Roberts  magazine,  which  occurred  a  few 
days  prior  to  the  night  in  question,  and  after  daylight  the  fol- 
lowing morning  I  visited  the  home  of  Griffith,  which  was 
situated  iif  a  good  residence  portion,  and  surrounded  by  a 
number  of  good  homes  and  families.  I  found  in  the  basement 
of  Griffith's  house  the  remainder  of  the  ton  of  nitro-glycerine, 
which  was  hidden  under  a  stairway  running  from  the  kitchen 
of  the  house  into  the  basement.  At  the  time  I  entered  the 
house  I  found  Griffith's  children  playing  and  running  up  and 
down  these  steps  under  which  the  explosive  was  standing  in 
the  original  packages.  There  was  nitro-glycerine  enough  under 
those  stairs  to  have  blown  up  the  entire  city- 

I  was  then  compelled  to  procure  a  team  and  sleigh  and  do 
the  driving  myself,  and  to  load  the  stuff  into  the  sleigh  and 
drive  it  to  the  magazine  and  there  unload  it.  I  could  not 
induce  any  person  to  assist  me,  as  I  did  not  have  time,  being 


98  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

compelled  to  move  the  stuff  immediately  for  the  safety  of  not 
only  Griffith  s  family,  but  the  whole  neighborhood,  and,  there- 
fore, could  not  wait  to  send  word  to  the  Roberts  Co.  and 
have  them  send  their  own  men,  who  were  accustomed  to 
handling  it.  It  was  one  of  the  most  trying  situations  I  ever 
found  myself  placed  in. 

Griffith  was  tried  in  the  court  in  due  time,  and  was  sentenced 
for  seven  years  in  the  state  penitentiary  at  Allegheny,  on  the 
charge  of  grand  larceny. 

Col.  Roberts,  who  at  that  time  lived  at  Titusville,  Pa.,  and 
was  president  of  the  Roberts  Torpedo  Company,  sent  me  a 
check  for  five  hundred  dollars,  which  I  accepted. 

Griffith  served  out  his  sentence,  and  returned  to  Oil  City, 
where  he  was  living  at  my  last  account  of  him,  and  was  fol- 
lowing his  old  vocation,  that  of  moonshining,  in  a  more 
moderate  manner  than  of  yore. 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS. 

AFTER   STANDING   OFF   A   SHERIFF    AND    POSSE,    THE    NOTORIOUS 
BANDIT   IS   TAKEN   SINGLE   HANDED. 

During  the  years  of  1875-6  I  was  Chief  Special  Agent  of 
the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad.  One  morning  I  was  called 
to  Brookville,  Pennsylvania,  to  investigate  the  burglary 
of  the  company's  office  at  that  point  during  the  preced- 
ing night.  On  arriving  in  the  little  town  I  found  the  of- 
fice of  the  company  almost  a  wreck,  the  safe  having  been 
blown  to  pieces  with  dynamite  or  some  other  explosive, 
and  its  contents,  including  quite  a  sum  of  money  and  a 
number  of  Centennial  Exposition  and  railroad  tickets  were 
missing.  After  some  hard  w^ork,  T  obtained  a  clue  which 
led  me  to  believe  that  the  job  had  been  done  by  the  notori- 
OUS  Watts  gang.   - 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS. 


99 


This  outlaw  band,  which  originally  consisted  of  eight 
men,  had  long  terrorized  the  good  citizens  of  Jefferson, 
Clarion,  Forest  and  Elk  Counties — in  much  the  same  man- 
ner as  had  the  James  Boys  and  their  gang  of  cut-throats 
the  citizens  of  western  Missouri. 

There  was  no  crime  too  big  or  too  little  for  them  to 
commit,  but  they  made  a  specialty  of  arson,  murder,  rob- 


Wess  Watts. 

Noted  Pennsylvania  bandit  leader  run  down  and  captured 
by  Detective  Furlong. 

bery  and  safe-blowing.  The  organizer  and  leader  was 
Wess  Watts,  who,  before  he  had  adopted  outlawry  as  a 
profession,  had  been  a  gun  and  locksmith  in  Brookville, 
and  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  skilled  mechanic.  He 
was  about  28  years  of  age,  5  feet  11  inches  in  height,  and 
weighed  in  the  neighborhood  of   190  pounds.     There  had 


100  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

never  been  any  question  of  his  gameness  and  he  was  known 
as  the  crack  shot  of  that  portion  of  Pennsylvania.  He  often 
gave  exhibitions  of  his  expertness  in  the  handUng  of 
firearms.  One  of  his  favorite  stunts  was  to  shoot  an  ap- 
ple from  the  head  of  his  brother  at  a  distance  of  twenty 
paces  with  either  a  gun  or  revolver. 

In  reporting  to  Mr.  David  McCargo,  the  General  Super- 
intendent of  the  road,  a  day  or  so  later,  that  I  was  con- 
vinced that  the  Watts  gang  was  responsible  for  the  Brook- 
ville  job,  and  venturing  the  opinion  that  this  gang  would 
continue  to  prey  upon  the  railroad  at  intervals  until  they 
were  exterminated ;  whereupon  Mr.  McCargo  said,  "You 
are  hereby  instructed  to  bend  every  effort  toward  the  sup- 
pression of  this  gang,  and  you  will  be  relieved  from  all 
other  duties  until  this  has  been  accomplished." 

I  at  once  took  up  the  work,  by  visiting  the  Western 
Penitentiary  at  Allegheny  City,  where  I  found  a  former 
member  of  the  Watts  gang,  who  had  been  convicted  of 
horse  stealing  and  was  at  that  time  serving  a  ten-year  sen- 
tence for  the  same.  This  man's  name  was  Lafayette  Ed- 
wards, and  he  had  been  connected  with  the  Watts  gang 
for  a  number  of  years  and  was  a  member  at  the  time  of 
his  arrest.  He  was  about  thirty-five  years  of  age.  He  had 
a  younger  brother  by  the  name  of  Horace  Edwards,  who 
had  been  connected  with  the  gang  until  about  a  year  pre- 
vious to  the  arrest  of  Lafayette,  when  he  grew  tired  of  the 
life  he  had  been  leading,  and,  as  the  gang  was  daily  grow- 
ing bolder  in  their  depredations,  he  was  afraid  they  would 
all  be  brought  to  justice  sooner  or  later,  so  he  disappeared, 
no  one  knowing  his  whereabouts  in  Brookville.  On  ap- 
proaching Lafayette,  at  the  penitentiary,  I  told  him  who 
I  was,  that  I  had  learned  of  both  his  and  his  brother's  con- 
nection with  the  Watts  gang  and  that   I   desired   to  find 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS.  101 

Horace,  so  that  I  might  get  the  facts  from  him  as  to  his 
knowledge  of  the  crimes  perpetrated  by  the  gang  while 
he  was  a  member  of  it.  Lafayette  Edwards  said  he  be- 
lieved that  his  brother  would  tell  all  he  knew,  providing 
he  would  not  be  punished  for  the  part  he  had  taken  while 
working  with  the  gang.  I  explained  to  him  that  so  long 
as  Horace  had  severed  his  connection  with  the  gang,  that 
I  had  no  doubt  but  that  the  prosecuting  officers  would  use 
his  testimony  against  the  other  members  of  the  gang  and 
nolle  prosequi  all  charges  against  him,  which  is  a  custom, 
as  the  prosecuting  attorney  in  criminal  cases  has  the  right, 
with  the  permission  of  the  court,  to  annul  proceedings 
against  a  criminal,  where  he  has  been  used  as  a  State's 
witness.  I  also  told  him  if  he  would  assist  me  in  locating 
Horace,  that  I  would  do  all  that  I  could,  consistently,  with 
the  proper  officers  to  have  the  charges  annulled  against  his 
brother.  Finally  he  told  me  that  Horace  was  engaged  as 
a  farm  hand  at  a  point  near  Vermillion,  Illinois.  He  said 
that  Horace  had  joined  the  church  and  was  living  an  hon- 
est and  conscientious  life.  I  went  to  Vermillion  and  located 
Horace  Edwards,  who  was  working  as  a  farm  hand  under 
an  alias,  and  found  that  he  had  established  a  good  reputa- 
tion, joined  the  church,  and  was  respected  by  all  who  knew 
him.  In  other  words,  he  had  made  friends  with  everybody 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact  during  his  few  months'  stay 
in  that  neighborhood.  This  information  I  verified  before 
approaching  Horace.  I  finally  called  on  him  and  told  him 
who  I  was,  that  I  was  from  Pennsylvania,  and  that  I  had 
seen  his  brother  Lafayette,  who  was  in  the  penitentiary 
in  Allegheny  City,  who  had  given  me  his  address,  and,  in 
fact,  I  told  him  the  line  of  facts  that  I  knew  he  would  rec- 
ognize as  facts.  I  then  proposed  to  him  that  he  go  back 
to  Pennsylvania  with  me,  at  my  expense,  promising  that  1 


102  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Avould  keep  him  quietly  in  a  small  town  near  Brookville, 
where  he  would  not  be  known  until  I  had  apprehended 
the  balance  of  the  Watts  gang,  and  that  I  would  pay  his 
expenses  back  to  Illinois,  where  he  had  so  many  friends, 
and  was  favorably  known,  and  that  the  people  would  not 
become  aware  of  his  identity  after  his  return  among  them. 
In  this  connection,  I  wish  to  say  that  Horace  had  adopted 
his  mother's  maiden  name.  To  this  Horace  replied  prompt- 
ly that,  as  he  had  become  a  church  member,  he  would  ren- 
der all  the  assistance  in  his  power  towards  bringing  his 
former  companions  to  justice,  and  thereby  preventing  them 
from  committing  further  depredations.  I  told  the  parties 
by  whom  he  was  employed  that  his  presence  was  required 
as  a  witness  in  an  important  case  in  court  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  that  I  had  come  after  him  and  had  no  doubt  but  that 
he  would  return  again  in  a  few  weeks.  I  took  him  back  to 
Pennsylvania,  and  rounded  up  the  balance  of  the  gang, 
with  the  exception  of  the  leader,  Wess  Watts.  I  learned 
that  he  had  last  been  heard  from  at  Paducah,  Kentucky. 
This  I  learned  through  the  assistance  of  a  sister  of  Mrs. 
Watts,  who  was  in  correspondence  with  her.  I  w^ent  to 
Paducah  and  found  Mrs.  Watts.  From  my  investigations 
I  had  become  so  familiar  Avith  the  depredations  of  the 
gang,  the  dates  and  places  where  they  had  been  committed 
that  I  decided  to  approach  Mrs.  Watts  by  representing  my- 
self as  a  friend  of  her  husband  and  other  members  of  the 
gang.  At  this  she  became  angry  and  excited,  and  told  me 
that  if  she  had  a  kettle  of  boiling  water  convenient  she 
would  scald  me,  as  she  had  no  further  use  for  her  husband 
or  any  of  his  friends.  He  had  deserted  her  and  their  thild, 
and  had  run  away  with  another  man's  wi'fe.  It  was  then 
my  turn  to  sympathize  with  her,  which  I  did  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  and  of  course,  denounced  Wess  Watts  in 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS.  103 

plain  words  for  having  deserted  his  wife  and  child  in  such 
a  manner.  Mrs.  Watts,  who,  by  the  way,  was  really  a 
good  natured  woman  and  rather  good  looking,  of  the  blonde 
type,  about  25  years  of  age,  finally  told  me  that  her  husband 
had  taken  this  other  woman,  and  that  she  had  heard,  a 
few  days  prior  to  my  visit,  that  he  and  Oliver  Brooks  had 
opened  a  gun  and  locksmith  repair  shop  at  Shawneetown, 
Illinois.  She  said  Watts  and  this  woman  and  Oliver 
Brooks  and  the  Brooks  woman  were  living  together,  and 
that  they  had  their  shingle  out  for  gun  and  lock  repairing, 
but  in  reality  were  committing  burglaries  and  thefts  almost 
nightly  in  the  vicinity  of  Shawneetown.  I  took  a  boat  at 
Paducah  for  Shawneetown,  which  is  on  the  Ohio  river 
some  50  miles  from  Padud'ah.  I  arrived  at  Shawneetown, 
which  was  then  a  very  small  place,  about  3  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  The  town  is  very  low,  the  Ohio  river  being  held 
out  of  the  town  by  a  high  levee  along  its  banks.  After 
leaving  the  boat  I  went  over  the  levee  to  the  only  street 
in  the  town  parallel  to  the  river  and  had  no  trouble  in  lo- 
cating the  gun  shop,  by  reason  of  the  sign  over  the  door. 
Directly  opposite  this  shop  was  a  general  merchandise 
store  with  a  large  pile  of  empty  dry  goods  boxes  standing 
in  front  of  it.  I  seated  myself  upon  one  of  these  boxes,  as 
it  Avas  not  quite  daylight  when  I  found  the  place  and,  as 
I  had  had  some  sleep  coming  up  on  the  boat,  I  was  not 
sleepy.  I  could  not  go  to  a  hotel  at  that  time  without 
arousing  some  comment,  and,  therefore,  concluded  I  would 
wait  in  the  vicinity  of  the  gun  shop  and  watch  for  de- 
velopments. I  had  been  sitting  on  the  box  for  perhaps 
three-quarters  of  an  hour,  and  day  was  just  beginning  to 
break,  when  I  noticed  a  little  cloud  of  smoke  coming  out  of 
the  stovepipe  (which  served  as  a  chimney). in  the  shanty 
in  which  the  gun  shop  was  located.     A  few  minutes  later 


104  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

the  door  of  the  gun  shop  was  opened  and  I  could  see, 
from  my  perch  on  the  box  across  the  street,  that  some 
one  was  sweeping.  I  could  see  the  broom,  but  could  not 
see  who  was  operating  it.  I  watched  the  broom  for  a  few 
minutes  and  then  concluded  I  would  go  over  to  the  shop 
and  look  in  and  see  who  was  doing  the  sweeping. 

This  shop  was  a  one-story  frame  shanty,  about  i6  feet 
wide,  by  perhaps,  24  feet  long.  It  was  divided  in  the  mid- 
dle by  a  partition,  making  two  rooms.  The  front  room, 
being  the  gun  shop,  contained  a  vise  bench  to  the  right 
of  the  front  door,  upon  which  were  a  lot  of  tools,  such  as 
files,  wrenches,  one  or  two  old  guns  and  a  couple  of  pis- 
tols. 

Diagonally  across  the  shop  and  to  the  left  was  a  door 
opening  into  the  rear  room,  which  was  used  as  a  living  room. 
When  I  peered  into  the  front  room  or  gun  shop  there  was 
no  one  in  the  room,  43ut  the  door  leading  into  the  rear 
room  was  open  and  I  rapped  on  the  shop  door.  My  knock 
was  answered  by  a  man,  who  came  from  the  rear  room  and 
had  a  broom  in  his  hand.  He  was  clad  in  blue  overalls,  a 
knit  undershirt  and  wore  a  pair  of  rubbers,  but  no  socks. 
I  saw  at  a  glance  that  it  was  Wess  Watts,  himself.  I  had 
a  very  good  description  of  him  and  had  seen  his  brother, 
sister  and  mother,  and  he  resembled  them  very  strongly.  I 
noticed  that  he  had  nothing  in  the  shape  of  arms  on  him  ex- 
cept the  broom.  I  decided  then  and  there  to  arrest  him. 
When  he  came  from  the  rear  room  I  saluted  him,  saying, 
"Good-morning,"  and  he  replied  in  the  same  way.  I  then 
said,  "Are  you  the  gunsmith?"  He  said  he  was.  I  said, 
"I  have  a  job  for  you.  I  have  an  old  gun  here,  but  I  don't 
know  whether  you  can  do  anything  with  it  or  not." 

In  this  connection  I  wish  to  state  that  before  I  left  my 
perch  on  the  boxes  across  the  street,  I  placed  my  revolver. 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS.  105 

which  was  a'  41-Colts,  short  barrel,  double  action,  in  my 
rig-ht-hand  coat  pocket.  I  also  had  a  pair  of  automatic 
hand-cuffs,  which  I  placed  in  my  left-hand  pocket.  I  was 
wearing  a  sack  coat,  and  when  Watts  replied  that  he  was 
the  gunsmith,  I  took  the  revolver  out  of  my  right-hand 
pocket  in  an  awkward  manner,  holding  it  about  in  the  mid- 
dle. He  turned  around,  in  a  leisurely  manner,  and  set  the 
broom  in  the  corner  near  the  door,  and  while  he  was  doing 
this,  I  placed  my  gun  in  working  position,  and  as  he  turned 
extending  his  hand,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
and  examining  my  pistol,  I  leveled  it  at  his  head  and  told 
him  to  "throw  up  his  hands."  He  hesitated  for  an  in- 
stant, but  I  commanded  him  a  second  time,  telling  him  to 
throw  them  up  at  once,  or  I  would  blow  his  head  off.  He 
threw  up  his  hands,  and,  just  at  the  time  I  commanded  him 
the  second  time  to  throw  up  his  hands,  a  man  with  a  bushy 
head  of  red  hair  peered  through  the  door  leading  into  the 
rear  room,  but  when  he  saw  what  was  going  on,  he  ducked 
back  his  head,  as  he  was  in  direct  range  with  my  gun.  I 
then  commanded  Watts  to  about  face,  and  step  forward  to 
the  door,  which  he  did,  keeping  his  hands  up.  I  was  right 
behind  him  with  my  gun  at  the  back  of  his  head,  and  told 
him  to  step  down  and  out  of  the  door.  He  obeyed.  I  then 
took  my  hand-cuff's  out  of  my  left-hand  coat  pocket,  and 
snapped  them  on  his  wrists,  while  his  hands  were  still 
above  his  head.  I  then  told  him  he  could  drop  his  hands, 
and  marched  him  up  tlie  street  to  the  hotel,  which  was  but 
a  few  hundred  feet  from  the  shop.  In  the  meantime  Watts 
did  not  utter  a  word,  but  merely  complied  with  my  com- 
mands. On  our  arrival  at  the  hotel  I  found  the  night 
clerk  or  porter  in  charge,  but  asleep  in  a  chair  in  the  office, 
and  as  we  marched  in  he  awoke  and  appeared  to  be  fright- 
ened at  our  intrusion.     I  told  him  that   I   was  an  officer 


106  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

and  that  Watts  was  my  prisoner.  I  told  him  we  were  hun- 
gry and  asked  him  how  soon  we  could  get  something  to  eat. 
He  awakened  the  help  and  in  about  half  an  hour  breakfast 
was  announced. 

All  this  time  Watts  and  I  were  sitting  in  the  office  gaz- 
ing at  each  other,  not  a  word  having  been  spoken  by  either, 
and  when  we  went  into  the  dining  room  and  sat  down  to 
the  table,  Watts  looked  at  me  and  then  at  the  hand-cufifs 
as  much  as  to  say,  "Aren't  you  going  to  remove  these 
hand-cufifs?"  He  did  not  speak,  however.  I  shook  my 
head,  looked  at  the  table  and  food  and  then  at  Watts,  as 
much  as  to  say,  "There  it  is,  you  can  eat  it  or  leave  it 
alone."  I  sat  opposite  him  at  the  table  and  he  helped  him- 
self to  some  ham  and  managed  to  eat  a  pretty  good  break- 
fast with  the  hand-cufifs  on. 

On  arising  from  the  table  it  occurred  to  me  for  the 
first  time  that  my  prisoner  was  not  very  well  dressed  to 
make  a  long  jovirney.  I  espied  a  large-sized,  old-fashioned 
linen  duster,  and  a  big-brimmed  straw  hat  hanging  on  the 
wall  of  the  hotel  sitting  room.  After  some  dickering  with 
the  porter  I  purchased  them  for  75c  and  put  them  on  my 
prisoner.  The  addition  of  these  garments  made  Watts 
look  more  like  the  leader  of  a  rube  band,  than  the  bold,  bad 
man  that  he  really  was. 

At  that  time  there  was  a  branch  of  the  Wabash  Rail- 
road running  into  Shawneetown,  and  I  had  ascertained 
there  was  a  train  leaving  there  shortly  for  McLeansboro- 
and  East  St.  Louis.  We  boarded  the  train  at  6  :oo  a.  m. 
and  started  for  East  St.  Louis.  After  we  had  been  on  the 
train  for  half  an  hour  or  more.  Watts,  who  was  sitting  in 
the  seat  with  me,  and  to  the  left,  next  to  the  window, 
turned  around  facing  me  and  said,  "Who  are  you,  and 
where  are  you  taking  me,  and  what  have  you  arrested  me  for?" 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WEvSS  WATTS.  107 

I  replied  that  I  was  a  deputy  sheriff  from  VermilHon 
and  that  I  had  arrested  him  on  suspicion  of  committing  a 
burglary  there  a  week  before. 

.'    He  said,  "Why,  I   was  never  in  Vermillion  in  my  life 
You  have  made  a  big  mistake." 

"I  guess  I  am  not  very  much  mistaken,"  I  replied,  "some 
of  our  citizens  saw  the  burglars  when  they  left  the  bank, 
and  have  described  you  accurately.  Of  course,  if  they  fail 
to  identify  you  on  your  arrival  at  Vermillion,  I  will  apolo- 
gize to  you,  and  then  be  obliged  to  pay  your  expenses  back 
to  Shawneetown." 

He  then  said,  "You  say  you  are  a  deputy  sheriff?  Well, 
don't  deputy  sheriffs  have  to  give  bond  for  the  careful  per- 
formance of  their  duties?"  I  replied,  "Yes,  they  have  to 
give  bond." 

"Well,"  he  continued,  "these  people  won't  identify  me 
and  I  will  make  your  bondsmen  pay  dearly  for  this  out- 
rage." 

"We'll  see  about  this,"  I  replied.  "I  can't  be  mistaken. 
I  have  been  a  deputy  sheriff  for  the  past  two  years,  and  I 
have  arrested  two  house  thieves  and  they  were  convicted, 
so  I  can  not  be  mistaken." 

"Well,  you  are  very  badly  mistaken  now,"  he  answered, 
and  with  this  he  stopped  talking  and  seemed  to  be  at  ease, 
as  he  knew  he  could  not  1)e  identified  at  Vermillion,  and 
felt  sure  that  he  would  be  released.  In  due  time  v/e  arrived 
at  East  St.  Louis,  and  I  explained  to  him  that  I  did  not 
care  to  proceed  to  Vermillion  that  night,  as  I  had  some  lit- 
tle business  to  attend  to  in  St.  Louis,  and  therefore,  I  pro- 
posed to  come  over  to  the  city,  remain  over  night  and  take 
the  first  train  out  in  the  morning  to  Vermillion.  He  seemed 
perfectly  satisfied.  T  brouglit  him  across  the  river  and 
took  him  to  the  Four  Courts  and  turned  him  over  to  Major 


108  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

McDonough,  who  was  then  Chief  of  Police  of  St.  Louis. 
I  had  known  Chief  McDonough  for  years.  He  locked 
Watts  up,  and  I,  of  course,  had  his  meals  taken  in  to  him 
and  had  him  well  cared  for.  The  next  morning  we  took 
an  early  train  for  Indianapolis  over  what  is  now  a  part  of 
the  Big  Four  system.  We  got  along  very  nicely  until  we 
reached  the  Wabash  river,  which  separates  Illinois  from 
Indiana,  when  Watts  suddenly  turned  to  me  and  in  a  loud 
and  excited  manner  said,  "Where  in  h — 1  are  you  taking 
me?    You  haven't  told  me  the  truth." 

"No,"  I  replied,  'T  did  not  tell  you  the  truth  about 
where  I  am  taking  you,  but  I  will  do  so  now.  I  am  taking 
you  to  Brookville,  Pennsylvania." 

"Why  didn't  you  tell  me  this  in  the  first  place?"  he 
asked. 

I  replied,  "My  reason  for  not  telling  you  this  in  the  first 
place  was,  that  after  I  had  located  you,  as  I  supposed,  at 
Paducah,  Kentuck}',  I  reported  the  facts  to  Sheriff  Steele 
of  Jefferson  County  and  asked  him  to  apply  for  the  proper 
papers  so  that  30U  might  be  taken  back  to  Pennsylvania. 
Sheriff  Steele  obtained  the  papers  and  insisted  on  bringing 
a  posse  of  men  to  assist  in  your  capture,  to  which  I  objected 
and  I  told  him  that  I  did  not  think  it  necessary  for  anybody 
to  come  after  you,  but  he  and  myself.  He  reluctantly  con- 
sented to  accompany  me.  He  had  the  papers  and  came  as 
far  as  St.  Louis.  The  weather  was  very  warm  and  when 
we  arrived  in  St.  Louis,  Steele  was  very  feverish  and  com- 
plained of  being  sick,  and  was  afraid  that  he  was  taking 
typhoid  fever,  and  insisted  on  returning  to  Pennsylvania 
immediately,  which  he  did.  He  insisted  on  me  going  back 
v/ith  him,  but  I  told  liim  that  I  Avas  going  to  get  hell  be- 
fore I  returned.     He  left  me  and  returned  home." 

"Why,  he  wasn't  sick  at  all,  he  was  just  afraid  of  me," 


THE  CAPTURE  OP  WESS  WATTS.  109 

said  Watts.  "He  was  afraid  to  meet  me,  for  he  knew  if  I 
saw  him  I  would  kill  him.  I  stood  off  Steele  and  seven- 
teen of  his  men,  all  armed,  in  Brookville  once.  Those  fel- 
lows are  all  afraid  of  me.  So  you  came  down  here  to  get 
me  yourself?  Well,  you  haven't  any  papers  for  my  ar- 
rest, have  you?" 

"No,"  I  said,  "I  haven't  any  papers.  I  have  nothing  but 
you." 

"Suppose  I  object  to  going  any  farther  with  you,"  he  re- 
marked. 

"In  that  case,"  I  replied,  "I  would  simply  have  to  have 
you  locked  up  and  wait  until  the  papers  arrive.  They  are 
all  made  out,  therefore  you  can  raise  all  the  objections  you 
like.  I  am  a  deputy  sheriff,  and  I  could  have  locked  you 
up  in  Illinois,  but  I  did  not  know  what  that  red-headed  fel- 
low and  your  other  associates  in  Shawneetown  would  do, 
and  not  wanting  to  be  bothered  with  them,  I  decided  to 
just  bring  you  right  along." 

Watts  then  said,  "You  saw  that  fellow  with  the  red  hair, 
did  you?" 

"Yes,"  I  answered. 

"Where  did  you  see  him?" 

"At  the  time  I  pointed  my  gun  at  your  head  he  peered  in 
at  the  door  leading  into  the  back  room,  but  when  he  saw 
the  condition  of  things,  he  ducked  back  into  the  rear  room," 
I  told  him. 

"Oh !"  Watts  said,  "he  is  a  coward.  If  I  ever  get  my  eyes 
on  him  I'll  kill  him  on  sight."  Continuing,  Watts  said, 
"Did  you  notice  when  you  told  me  to  throw  up  my  hands, 
that  I  hesitated  for  a  second?" 

I  said,  "Yes,  I  did." 

"Do  you  know   what   I   thought  of   when   I   hesitated?" 

he  asked. 


no  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

"No,  I  don't,  "  I  answered. 

"Why,  I  thought  of  just  jumping  forward  and  taking 
that  gun  away  from  you." 

I  said,  "Why  didn't  you  do  it?"  looking  him  straight  in 
the  eye. 

He  replied,  with  an  oath,  "I  thought  you'd  shoot." 

"I  guess  you  were  right  about  that,"  I  answered. 

He  stopped  talking  for  a  few  minutes  and  then  began 
to  cry.  He  became  almost  hysterical.  We  were  riding 
in  the  smoking  car  when  this  conversation  occurred  and 
his  sobbing  and  crying  attracted  the  attention  of  the  pas- 
sengers in  the  car,  and  it  was  really  pitiful  to  see  a  strong, 
athletic  looking  young  man  like  Watts  sob  and  cry  like  a 
child.  He  finally  ceased  and  said,  "Well,  I  am  glad  you 
got  me,  I  have  never  had  an  hour's  peace  or  rest  since 
that  night  at  Catholicsburg,  Kentucky." 

"Why,"  I   said,   "Wliat  happened   at   Catholicsburg?" 

He  answered,  "Oliver  Beach  shot  my  father,  James 
Watts,  in  our  boat  at  Catholicsburg,  and  he  and  Brooks 
put  the  body  into  the  Ohio  River.  He  killed  him  with  my 
gun.  I  knew  they  were  going  to  do  it,  but  I  did  not  take 
any  part  in  the  killing.  Now,  I  am  going  to  tell  you  all 
about  myself  and  my  companions  since  I  left  Brookville." 

I  told  him  that  while  I  would  be  interested  in  hearing 
what  he  had  to  say,  it  would  be  used  against  him  at  his 
trial  at  Brookville,  and  that  I  would,  therefore,  prefer 
that  he  would  not  tell  me  anything  about  his  crimes  until 
we  got  back  to  Brookville,  and  then  if  he  felt  like  talking 
and  making  a  confession,  he  could  do  so  to  the  prosecuting 
attorney,  and  the  authorities  there ;  that  my  part  in  the 
matter  would  end  upon  my  delivering  him  to  the  officers, 
and  I  would  rather  that  he  defer  talking  until  we  arrived 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS.  Ill 

in  that  city.  However,  he  insisted  on  telling  me  about  the 
numerous  crimes  that  he  and  his  associates  had  committed 
while  going  down  the  Ohio  River,  about  his  capture  at 
Paducah,  Kentucky;  his  conviction,  his  pardon  and  the 
conviction  and  pardon  of  two  members  of  his  gang  from 
the  penitentiary. 

He  was  especially  proud  of  one  piece  of  work  done  by 
the  gang  while  making  their  home  in  a  house-boat  anchored 
on  the  Illinois  side  of  the  river  opposite  Paducah,  Watts, 
Beach  and  Alston  rowed  across  the  river  to  the  Kentucky 
side  in  a  four-oared  skiff.  It  was  cold  and  freezing.  They 
were  looking  for  plunder  and  spied  a  large  egg-shaped  coal 
stove  in  the  office  of  a  coal  company  on  the  levee.  This 
stove  had  ben  filled  with  coal  and  was  red  hot,  and  the 
fire  had  been  banked  for  the  night  with  ashes,  and  the 
"gentlemen"  before  named,  broke  open  the  door  of  the 
coal  office,  procured  a  wide,  strong  plank,  run  it  under  the 
red-hot  stove  and  took  it  to  their  house-boat,  where  they 
installed  it  without  permitting  the  fire  to  go  out.  So  that 
they  thus  succeeded  in  stealing  and  getting  away  with  a 
red-hot  stove,  which  was  a  verification  of  the  old  saying 
that  "there  was  nothing  too  hot  or  too  heavy  for  them." 

In  due  time  we  arrived  at  Brookville,  where  he  insisted 
on  making  a  full  confession,  which  he  did,  in  the  presence 
of  Prosecuting  Attorney  Reed,  Sheriff  W.  P.  Steele  and 
myself.  This  confession,  which  was  voluntarily  made  and 
sworn  to  before  the  clerk  of  the  court,  witnessed  and  at- 
tested by  Mr.  Reed,  Steele  and  myself,  is  as  follows: 

CONFESSION  OF  J.  W.   WATTS. 

Left  Brookville,  June  20,  1874,  for  Parkers  Landing. 
Got  a  boat  there  and  went  down  the  river.  My  father, 
James  Watts,  traded  a  gun  for  the  boat.    We  built  a  shanty 


112  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

on  the  boat  as  we  proceeded  down  the  river.  The  names 
of  the  parties  on  that  boat  were:  Charles  Beach,  Oliver 
Brooks,  James  Watts,  J.  W.  Watts,  Sarah  M.  Watts  and 
Myrta  Watts.  There  was  no  difficulty  on  the  boat  until 
we  arrived  at  a  point  near  Ironton,  Ohio.  We  got  a  wo- 
man by  the  name  of  Fanny  Rose  on  board  the  boat,  and 
from  there  down  to  Maysville  there  seemed  to  be  some 
trouble  between  Oliver  Brooks  and  James  Watts,  my  fath- 
er, about  Fanny  Rose,  the  girl  above  named.  My  father 
had  been  talking  of  turning  state's  evidence,  and  on  Sun- 
day, the  6th  of  September,  1874,  he  took  an  axe  and  cut  a 
hole  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat.  I  remonstrated  with  him 
and  he  was  going  to  strike  me  with  the  axe.  The  water 
began  filling  the  boat,  which  necessitated  our  landing.  On 
the  night  of  the  6th  of  September,  1874,  Oliver  Brooks  shot 
James  Watts,  killing  him  almost  instantly,  for  threatening 
to  turn  state's  evidence,  concerning  what  had  been  stolen 
during  our  trip  down  the  river,  by  the  male  portion  of  the 
gang  on  the  boat.  James  Watts  stole  nothing  himself. 
He  only  lived  a  few  minutes  after  Brooks  shot  him.  I  was 
on  another  boat  about  sixty  yards  above  the  one  James 
Watts  was  on.  I  knew  that  Oliver  Brooks  was  going  to 
shoot  my  father,  and  it  made  me  very  nervous.  It  made  me 
sick  and  I  laid  down.  I  got  up  and  started  down  to  tell 
my  father,  when  I  heard  a  gun  shot,  but  having  an  idea  of 
what  had  occurred  I  was  very  much  frightened,  and  was 
very  weak  through  fear,  and  did  not  go  into  the  shanty  on 
the  boat,  where  Tames  Watts  and  Oliver  Brooks  were. 
During  this  Sunday  afternoon  Oliver  Brooks  and  James 
Watts  had  some  difficulty,  and  Brooks  told  us  all,  except 
James  Watts,  that  he  would  shoot  James  Watts.  Alston 
told  Brooks  that  he  would  get  my  father  to  play  a  game  of 
cards  by  a  window,  in  order  that  Brooks  could  slip  around 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS.  113 

and  shoot  him  from  the  bank  of  the  river  through  the  win- 
dow, and  he  did  shoot  him. 

I  am  here  to  tell  the  whole  truth,  and  want  to  keep  noth- 
ing back.  My  father  stole  nothing,  but  he  did  help  con- 
ceal what  the  rest  of  us  stole. 

After  he  was  shot,  and  when  I  came  up,  either  Brooks 
and  Beach,  or  Brooks  and  Alston,  were  gathering  up  stones 
on  the  bank  and  carrying  them  into  the  shanty  on  the 
boat  where  my  father  was  lying,  and  I  suppose  they  were 
taking  them  in  to  tie  around  his  neck  to  sink  him  in  the  river, 
from  what  they  said  before  the  deed  was  committed.  Af- 
ter they  got  everything  fixed  up,  I  heard  them  putting  my 
father  into  a  skiff  and  rowing  out  into  the  river  and  I  heard 
them  throwing  him  overboard.  They  used  sixty  or  eighty 
feet  of  half-inch  rope  to  tie  the  stones  to  him,  judging  from 
the  amount  that  was  gone  from  the  boat.  Alston  told  me 
he  had  just  dealt  the  cards  and  turned  trump.  The  old 
man  passed,  and  he  (Alston)  turned  it  down.  My  father 
said  he  would  make  it  hearts,  but  turned  and  looked 
towards  the  window  from  where  the  shot  came  and  then 
fell.  Alston  caught  him  to  keep  him  from  falling  so  hard. 
This  is  what  Alston  told  me.  After  they  took  my  father 
out  into  the  river  and  threw  him  in,  Oliver  Brooks  said  he 
felt  just  as  well  as  he  did  before  he  committed  the  deed 
and  better,  too.  After  this  there  was  no  more  conversa- 
tion about  it  in  my  presence  as  I  would  not  listen  to  them, 
nor  permit  them  to  talk  to  me  about  it.  I  did  not  go  into 
the  room  where  he  was  killed,  for  five  or  six  weeks.  It  was 
my  rifle  that  he  shot  him  with  and  it  was  the  best  rifle  I 
ever  saw  or  used,  but  after  Brooks  used  it  to  shoot  my 
father,  I  never  shot  out  of  it,  or  looked  into  the  muzzle  of 
it,  but  what  I  saw  blood,  or  thought  I  saw  blood  in  it. 
Other  persons  saw  blood  in  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  after 


114  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

shooting  it.  I  showed  it  to  them  without  giving  them  any 
other  information.  There  was  an  understanding  and  mutu- 
al agreement  between  us  that  we  were  never  to  say  anything 
about  the  killing  of  James  ^\'atts.  \\^e  pushed  the  boat  off 
that  evening,  after  my  father  had  been  killed  and  thrown 
into  the  river  and  went  on  down  stream  following  our 
usual  avocation  of  stealing,  etc.,  and  we  did  not  stop  per- 
manently until  we  got  to  Paducah,  Kentucky.  At  P.a- 
ducah,  all  the  males  in  our  party  were  arrested  on  the  Illi- 
nois side  by  Marshal  Geary  of  Paducah,  Frank  Farland, 
Wood  Morrow  and  Bill  Green,  on  a  charge  of  grand  larceny, 
committed  at  Buddsville,  Ky.  We  were  tried,  convicted 
and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  at  Frankfort,  Ky.  I  got  three 
years,  Oliver  Brooks  got  two  years  and  nine  months,  Pete 
Alston  got  one  year  and  six  months  and  Charlie  Beach 
got  three  years.  Brooks  got  pardoned  through  his  wife  on 
the  14th  of  May,  or  June,  1875,  ^"d  I  got  pardoned  on  the 
7th  of  July,  1875,  and  M.  P.  Alston  on  the  loth  of  August, 

1875. 

Brooks  and  his  wife  got  Beach  pardoned.  Brooks'  wife,  as 
I  understood  it,  had  illicit  relations  with  the  son  of  the  Gover- 
nor of  Kentucky,  and  through  the  influence  of  the  son  on 
his  father.  Beach  was  pardoned.  i\Iy  wife  got  Governor 
King  to  write  to  Governor  Leslis,  then  acting  Governor 
of  Kentucky,  and  through  his  intercession  I  was  par- 
doned. After  Brooks  was  pardoned  out  he  stayed  un- 
til Beach  and  I  got  out.  As  soon  as  I  got  out  I  started  for 
or  back  to  Paducah,  Ky.,  and  left  Brooks  and  Beach  in 
Frankfort.  I  left  there  on  the  7th  day  of  July,  1875,  and 
have  never  seen  any  of  them  since.  Alston,  a  short  time 
after  he  got  out  of  the  penitentiary,  went  down  the  Ken- 
tucky river,  broke  into  a  store,  and  got  shot  in  the  back. 


•     ^    THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS.  115 

He  was  sent  back  to  the  penitentiary  fur  live  years,  and  is 
there  at  the  present  time.  Up  to  the  time  I  left  Brookville 
I  was  in  the  habit  of  going  out  with  a  gang  composed  of 
Dan  Miller,  Frank  Watts,  John  Johnson,  Frank  Loader, 
Oliver  Brooks,  John  Lyons,  and  his  father,  and  Charlie 
Beach.  Frank  Watts  and  myself  went  through  Eshelman's 
grocery  store  at  Dowlingville,  and  at  other  places,  I  cannot 
now  remember. 

I  make  this  confession  of  my  own  free  will  and  with- 
out the  expectation  of  any  reward  or  through  any  fear.  I 
make  it  because  this  thing  has  been  lying  on  my  mind 
like  a  lead  weight,  and  I  concluded  I  would  tell  the  whole, 
thing  just  as  it  occurred.  My  wife  and  I  had  a  conversa- 
tion at  one  time  in  regard  to  the  affair  and  we  thought  of 
going  to  the  ofificers  and  telling  all  about  it,  but  for  some 
reason  we  did  not  do  it.  This  was  when  we  were  in  Pa- 
ducah. 

Made,  signed  and  sworn  to  in  the  presence  of  Thomas 
Furlong,  detective  for  the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad  Com- 
pany, Wm.  P.  Steele,  deputy  sheriff  of  Jefferson  County, 
Pennsylvania,  and  John  W.  Reed,  Attorney-at-law,  August 
22,  1876. 

Watts  made  the  above  statement  with  a  view  to  shield- 
ing himself  as  much  as  possible.  He,  himself,  killed  his 
father,  and  Mrs.  Brooks  so  testified.  She  said  it  was  not 
only  Wess  Watts'  gun  that  killed  old  man  Watts,  but  the 
gun  was  in  the  hands  of  Wess  Watts. 

I,  having  been  subpoenaed  as  a  witness  for  the  state  against 
Wess  Watts,  arrived  at  Brookville  on  the  morning  set  for 
his  trial.  The  whole  forenoon  was  consumed  in  selecting 
a  jury.  When  the  last  juror  had  been  selected  it  was  about 
twelve  o'clock,  and  the  court  took  a  recess  until  one  p.  m. 
At  that  time,  his  Honor,  Judge  Sterritt,  stated  that  the 


116  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

prisoner,  Wess  Watts,  should  be  brought  into  court,  when 
the  testimony  for  the  prosecution  would  begin.  I  went  to 
the  hotel,  ate  my  dinner  and  had  returned  to  the  sheriff'.-, 
office  in  the  courthouse  a  few  minutes  before  one  o'clock. 
While  sitting  there  talking  to  Sheriff  Steele  an  old  man  en- 
tered the  office,  whom  the  sheriff  familiarly  greeted,  calling 
him  Uncle  John,  in  the  following  manner: 

"Hello,  Uncle  John.  I  haven't  seen  you  for  a  long  time. 
How've  you  been?" 

Uncle  John  replied,  "Quite  well,  but  I'm  getting  old. 
Mammy  wanted  to  get  some  things  in  the  store  and  we  drove 
in  this  morning  from  Beechwoods.  I've  been  reading  in  my 
paper  about  Wess  Watts  and  it  says  that  he  is  to  be  put 
on  trial  today.  You  know,  Bill,  I  knew  old  Bill  Watts, 
Wess'  father,  before  Wess  was  born.  I've  been  reading- 
all  about  the  boy  and  his  gang  and  he  surely  must  be  a 
very  bad  and  desperate  man.  While  I'm  here  in  town, 
I'd  like  to  get  a  look  at  him." 

To  this  Sheriff  Steele  replied,  "Court  will  convene  at  one 
o'clock,  which  will  be  only  a  few  minutes  now,  and  I've 
been  ordered  by  the  Judge  to  bring  Wess  into  court  at  that 
time.  If  you  will  go  up  and  sit  in  the  courtroom.  Uncle 
John,  you  will  have  a  good  chance  to  see  him  when  I  take 
him  in." 

Uncle  John  was  a  man  more  than  seventy  years  of  age, 
was  a  good  citizen  and  had  lived  in  the  backwoods  in  Jef- 
ferson county  all  his  life.  He  knew  everybody  in  the 
county.  His  home  was  on  a  small  farm  about  eighteen 
miles  from  Brookville.  He  was  a  strong,  hale  man  for  his 
age,  and  had  a  full,  heavy,  white  beard.  He  was  an  inveter- 
ate tobacco  chewer  and  a  typical  backwoods  farmer. 

At  the  close  of  his  conversation  with  the  sheriff.  Uncle 
John  walked  to  the  door  leading  into  the  hall,  but,  just  be- 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS.  117 

fore  reaching  the  door,  he  suddenly  turned  and  said,  "Bill, 
I  see  in  the  paper  that  Wess  Watts  was  captured  down  in 
Egypt  by  one  man,  and  that  man  brought  him  back  here 
all  alone.  The  paper  said  that  man  would  be  at  the  trial 
here  today.     I'd  like  very  much  to  see  him,  too." 

The  sherifif  (pointing  to  me)  said,  "Uncle  John,  here's 
the  man  who  captured  Wess  Watts  and  brought  him  back 
here." 

Whereupon,  Uncle  John  quietly  walked  across  the  room 
to  where  I  was  sitting,  keeping  his  eye  upon  me  all  the 
time,  till  within  a  few  feet  of  me,  when  he  said,  "Young 
man,  I  wish  you  wouW  stand  up,  I  want  to  look  at  you." 

I  stood  up,  and  the  old  man  walked  about  half  way  around 
me,  eyeing  me  from  head  to  foot.  He  then  turned  without 
saying  a  word  and  started  for  the  door.  Before  leaving, 
he  said,  stroking  his  long  beard  with  his  left  hand  and 
pointing  his  right  at  me,  "Bill,  by  jove,  it  didn't  take  much 
of  a  man,  either." 

Then  he  left  the  room. 

Court  convened  at  one  o'clock  and  everything  appeared 
to  be  ready  for  the  beginning  of  the  trial.  The  courtroom 
was  packed  with  spectators  as  the  Watts  trial  had  aroused 
a  great  deal  of  interest,  and  people  were  attracted  Trom 
local  and  neighboring  counties  to  see  the  prisoner  and  wit- 
ness his  trial.  The  sheriff  did  not  appear  with  his  prisoner, 
however,  and  the  judge  sent  an  officer  to  notify  him  that 
the  Court  was  waiting.  In  a  few  minutes  the  sheriff  ap- 
peared, with  the  ofificer,  but  without  the  prisoner.  He  ap- 
proached the. judge's  stand  and  informed  him  that  he  had 
been  unable  to  induce  the  prisoner  to  leave  his  cell,  and 
Watts  had  said  he  would  kill  any  person  who  attempted 
to  take  him   into  court. 

The  jail  was  an  old-fashioned  stone  jail,  and  the  doors 


118 


FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 


"Bill,  by  jove,  it  didn't  take  much  of  a  man  either! 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS.  119 

leading  into  the  cells  were  only  about  two  and  one-half 
feet  wide  and  four  feet  high,  therefore,  a  person  above  four 
feet  in  height  was  obliged  to  stoop  on  entering  or  leaving 
the  cell.  They  had  old-fashioned  wooden  bedsteads  in  each 
cell,  and  Watts  had  torn  his  bedstead  to  pieces  that  morning 
and  had  taken  off  one  of  its  legs,  which  was  about  three  feet 
long  and  four  inches  square,  and  of  heavy  hardwood.  He  was 
a  powerfully  strong  man,  and  had  declared  his  intention  of 
massacring  any  person  attempting  to  enter  his  cell.  He 
defied  the  sheriff  or  any  of  his  ofificers  to  enter.  After 
Judge  Sterritt  had  listened  to  the  sheriff's  report,  he  sum- 
moned me  to  his  chair  and  said,  "Mr.  Furlong,  you  arrest- 
ed this  man  in  Illinois  and  brought  him  to  Brookville.  Now 
I  deputize  you  to  go  to  the  jail  and  bring  Wess  Watts,  the 
prisoner,  to  this  bar,  as  soon  as  possible." 

I  left  the  court  with  the  sheriff  and  went  to  the  jail,  in 
the  rear  of  the  courthouse,  and  direct  to  the  door  of  Watts' 
cell,  where  I  found  him  standing  in  the  center  of  his  cell 
armed  with  the  big  club.  I  tried  to  persuade  him  to  leave 
his  cell,  and  accompany  me  to  the  courtroom,  but  in  vain. 
He  was  obstinate  and  declared  he  would  kill  me  or  any 
one  else  who  tried  to  enter  that  cell.  I  found  that  persua- 
sion was  unavailing  and  called  the  sheriff  to  one  side,  out 
of  ear  shot,  and  said,  "How  long  will  it  take  you  to  heat 
a  few  gallons  of  water  to  a  boil?" 

The  sheriff  said  he  thought  there  was  a  lot  of  boiling 
water  in  the  jail  kitchen,  as  it  was  just  after  dinner.  Wc 
went  to  the  jail  kitchen  where  we  found  a  large  amount  of 
hot  water  on  hand.  We  secured  a  tin  wash  boiler  and  put  a1)OUt 
five  gallons  of  boiling  water  into  it.  I  also  obtained  a  large 
tin  dipper  with  a  long  handle.  We  carried  the  boiler  of 
water  to  the  door  of  Watt's  cell.  I  also  armed  a  big,  burly 
deputy  sheriff  named  Clover  Smith,  with  an  axe  handle, 


120  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

and  as  Smith  was  left-handed  I  placed  him  at  the  right 
hand  side  of  the  cell  door,  while  I  placed  the  boiler  of  hot 
water  on  the  left  side.  I  then  dipped  up  a  dipper  full  of 
boiling, water  (about  two  quarts)  and  with  the  long  handle 
I  could  reach  any  part  of  the  cell  with  the  hot  water.  I 
threw  the  first  dipper  full  at  Watts,  which  struck  his  breast 
and  upper  part  of  his  body.  As  he  was  lightly  clad,  and 
the  water  struck  him  squarely,  he  yelled  like  a  mad  lion. 
I  threw  two  more  dippers  of  scalding  water  at  him  in  quick 
succession,  each  time  the  water  striking  him  fairly,  and 
after  I  had  thrown  the  third  dipper,  he  made  a  lightning- 
like spring  for  the  open  door.  As  he  was  obliged  to  stoop 
so  low  that  his  head  almost  touched  his  knees.  Smith, 
whom  I  had  instructed,  struck  him  with  the  axe  handle, 
on  the  head,  felling  him  to  the  floor,  unconscious.  There- 
upon, the  sherifif,  Smith  and  myself  picked  him  up  and  car- 
ried him  into  the  courtroom  and  laid  him  on  a  table  before 
the  Judge's  stand.  There  were  a  number  of  doctors  pres- 
ent who  applied  restoratives  and  brought  him  to  his 
senses  in  a  few  minutes. 

He  was  scalded  slightly  in  spots  on  his  neck  and  body, 
but  otherwise  uninjured,  except  a  good  sized  bump  on  the 
back  of  his  head  where  Smith  had  struck  him. 

He  showed  no  further  signs  of  obstinacy  and  was  perfect- 
ly easy  to  control  and  handle  thereafter  until  he  was  landed 
safely  in  the  state  prison  at  Allegheny.  He  pleaded  guilty 
of  having  made  a  criminal  assault  on  a  school  girl  of  about 
sixteen  years  of  age.  She  was  returning  to  her  home  from 
school  between  4  and  5  o'clock  in  the  evening,  her  home 
being  on  a  mountain  on  the  outskirts  of  Brookville. 
Watts  met  her  in  a  lonely  spot  on  the  road  and  committed 
a  violent  and  criminal  assault.  The  girl  knew  him  by  sight. 
He  left  her  by  the  wayside  in  an  unconscious  condition, 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  WESS  WATTS.  121 

from  which  she  partly  recovered  and  managed  to  reach 
her  home  a  few  hours  later.  She  told  her  parents  what  had 
happened  and  that  Wess  Watts  was  her  assailant.  Where- 
upon, the  father  immediately  saddled  a  horse  and  rode 
rapidly  to  the  sheriff's  office,  and  informed  that  officer  of 
the  crime. 

W^illiam  P.  Steele  was  sheriff  at  the  time,  and  immedi- 
ately summoned  a  posse  of  seventeen  men.  These  men 
hastily  armed  themselves  with  rifles,  shotguns,  and  pistols 
and,  headed  by  the  sheriff,  went  to  the  home  of  the  Watts', 
and  surrounded  the  house,  which  stood  on  a  country  road 
in  the  outskirts  of  Brookville.  After  the  house  had  been 
surrounded  the  sheriff  and  one  of  his  men  went  to  the 
front  door  where  they  rapped  for  admission.  The  door 
was  opened  by  Wess'  mother.  The  sheriff  addressed  her 
as  follows:  "Mrs.  Watts,  I  have  a  warrant  for  Wess'  ar- 
rest. I  am  satisfied  that  he  is  here,  and  your  house  is  sur- 
rounded. He  had  better  give  himself  up,  peaceably,  at 
once." 

Mrs.  Watts  was  about  to  reply,  but  before  she  had  time 
to  do  so,  the  large  bony  hand  of  her  son  Wess  was  ruthless- 
ly placed  upon  her  shoulder  and  she  was  pulled  back  into 
the  house,  he  taking  her  place  in  the  doorway.  He  had  a 
belt  about  his  waist  in  which  could  be  seen  two  Colts  navy 
revolvers.  He  also  had  a  Colts  navy  in  each  hand,  and 
as  he  stepped  into  the  doorway  he  said,  "Mother,  you 
need  not  lie  to  shield  me.     I  will  take  care  of  myself." 

And  turning  around  he  addressed  the  sheriff  thus:  "Bill, 
I  counted  your  men  as  they  surrounded  the  house.  There 
are  eighteen  of  you,  and  I  want  to  say  to  you  that  I  have 
got  twenty-four  shots  right  here  (referring  to  the  four  six- 
shooters  he  was  carrying).  I  know  all  of  you  , fellows  and, 
Bill,  you  know  as  well  as  your  men  know,  that  I  never 


122  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

miss  a  mark  that  I  shoot  at.  Now,  I  am  going  to  leave 
this  place  at  once  and  I  will  not  bother  Brookville  again,  un- 
less you  or  any  of  your  men  attempt  to  stop  me-  If  you  do 
I  will  kill  every  man  of  you  and  will  still  have  shots  left." 
Whereupon  he  extended  his  hands  in  front  of  him  so  as  to 
brush  Sheriff  Steele  and  his  assistant  to  one  side,  and  sud- 
denly sprang  forward,  ran  to  the  gate  in  front  of  the  house 
and  then  across  the  road  to  where  there  was  a  high  rail 
fence.  He  placed  one  hand  on  the  top  rail  and  vaulted  over 
the  fence  and  disappeared  into  a  patch  of  laurel  brush  and 
timber. 

In  the  meantime  the  sheriff  and  his  posse,  or  at  least  a 
portion  of  them  who  were  in  sight  of  Watts,  quietly  stood 
and  watched  the  proceedings  without  raising  a  gun,  or  at- 
tempting to  do  so.  It  was  after  this  escape  that  Wess  and 
his  father,  Brooks  and  the  others  made  their  notorious 
voyage  down  the  Ohio  river  to  Paducah. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  add  that  on  the  morning  that  I  ar- 
rested Watts  at  Shawneetown,  I  had  not  the  remotest  idea 
of  either  arresting  or  attempting  to  arrest  him,  as  I  was 
alone  and  in  a  strange  state  and  had  no  papers  authorizing 
me  to  make  the  arrest,  as  Sheriff  Steele  had  retained  the 
papers  when  he  became  ill  at  St.  Louis.  I  knew  that  Watts 
had  never  seen  me,  therefore,  he  could  not  possibly  know 
me  or  my  business ;  but,  then  the  terrible  reputation  he 
bore  in  Pennsylvania  would  preclude  the  possibility  of  al- 
most any  sane  man  attempting  to  arrest  him  without  what 
might  be  considered  proper  assistance.  Knowing  that  he 
did  not  know  me,  and  having  an  irresistible  desire  to  see 
this  terrible  criminal,  as  I  had  heard  him  called.  I  ventured 
into  his  shop  merely  to  get  a  look  at  him,  believing  that  I 
could  give  him  a  plausible  excuse  for  my  early  visit ;  but 
v.hen  I  saw  him  and  that  he  w*as  entirely  unarmed,  and  he 


SOLVING  A  TRUNK  MYSTERY.  123 

did  not  really  look  to  be  as  desperate,  or  even  as  powerful 
a  man  as  he  had  been  described  to  be  to  me,  I,  being  armed, 
instantly  concluded  I  could  never  expect  a  more  favorable 
opportunity  to  arrest  him  than  right  then  and  there,  and, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  found  myself  carrying  out  this  reso- 
lution really  before  the  resolution  had  been  fully  formed  in 
my  mind.  I  saw  before  me  the  man  who  was  much  wanted 
by  the  Pennsylvania  authorities  and  believed  I  could  get 
him  then  and  there,  which  I  did. 


SOLVING  A  TRUNK  MYSTERY. 

A  VERY  SLENDER  CLUE  FASTENS  A  ROBBERY  UPON  A  BOSOM 
FRIEND  OF  THE  VICTIM — THE  LOOT  RECOVERED. 

Early  in  1872,  while  I  was  Chief  of  Police  of  Oil  City, 
Pennsylvania,  I  was  sitting  in  my  office  in  the  City  Hall  one 
morning,  talking  to  Col.  E.  A.  Kelley,  who  was  at  that  time 
City  Comptroller.  His  office  adjoined  mine.  The  colonel 
was  a  jolly,  good-natured  gentleman,  middle-aged,  very  portly, 
scholarly,  and  of  military  bearing.  He  was  a  graduate  of 
Annapolis  Naval  Academy,  and  had  spent  a  portion  of  his 
early  life  in  the  United  States  navy.  He  had  traveled  a  great 
deal,  and  was  generally  well-informed-  He  had  formed  a 
great  liking  to  me,  and  took  an  interest  in  the  police  depart- 
ment, and  especially  in  the  detection  of  criminals  and  the 
capture  of  them,  and  loved  to  talk  with  me  during  our  leisure 
moments  relative  to  that  portion  of  my  duties  as  chief  of  the 
department. 

We  were  thus  engaged  in  a  pleasant  conversation,  when 
two  young  men,  who  were  probably  from  twenty-five  to 
twenty-eight  years  of  age,  entered  the  office  and  inquired  of 
the  Colonel  for  the  Chief  of  Police.     Colonel  Kelley  pointed 


12i  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

to  me  saying,  "There  is  the  Chief,"  and  arose  to  leave  the 
office.  I  knew  that  there  was  no  cause  for  his  leaving  at  the 
moment,  so  asked  him  to  remain,  feeling  that  he  would  be 
interested  in  the  young  men's  business  with  me. 

The  spokesman  of  the  two  said  to  me  that  his  name  was 
William  Brewer,  and  that  he  was  the  superintendent  of  an 
oil  company  which  was  operating  a  large  number  of  oil  wells 
on  the  Blood  farm,  which  was  located  on  Oil  Creek,  Venango 
County,  Pennsylvania,  and  about  six  miles  north  of  Oil  City. 
He  stated  that  his  home  was  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  near 
Cleveland,  where  he  had  bought  a  small  farm  for  a  home  for 
his  parents,  who  were  getting  old,  and  who  were  now  living 
on  this  farm.  He  said  that  he  was  earning  a  fairly  good 
salary,  and  that  he  had  been  saving  his  money  so  as  to  make 
the  annual  payment  on  the  farm,  as  he  had  made  the  purchase 
on  the  installment  plan.  His  next  annual  payment  of  seven 
hundred  dollars,  including  the  interest,  would  be  due  in  about 
a  week  from  that  date.  He  had  been  laying  his  money  away 
in  a  trunk,  which  he  kept  in  his  room  in  the  boarding-house. 
He  stated  that  he  had  nine  hundred  dollars  in  bank  notes,  which 
he  kept  in  a  large,  leather  wallet,  and  which  he  placed  in 
this  trunk.  He  said  that  he  kept  the  trunk  locked,  and  on 
that  morning  he  had  occasion  to  unlock  his  trunk  to  take  out 
some  clothing,  and  to  his  dismay  discovered  that  the  wallet 
and  its  contents  were  missing.  In  answer  to  my  question,  he 
stated  that  he  had  found  the  trunk  locked,  and  apparently 
intact.  I  believe  I  only  asked  him  the  one  question.  He  did 
all  the  talking,  clearly  and  distinctly,  had  a  good  face,  and 
his  general  manner  impressed  me  very  much. 

His  companion,  who  looked  near  enough  like  him  to  be  a 
brother,  which  in  fact,  T  at  first  judged  him  to  be,  had  noth- 
ing to  say.  After  listening  attentively  to  his  story,  I  was 
silent  for  a  few  moments,  and  finally  asked  him  how  long  it 


SOLVING  A  TRUNK  MYSTERY.  125 

would  take  liim  to  go  to  his  boarding-house  and  bring  his 
trunk  to  my  office,  in  exactly  the  same  condition  in  which  he 
had  found  it.  He  replied  that  as  the  roads  were  quite  bad  he 
thought  he  could  have  the  trunk  in  my  office  in  about  four 
hours.  I  then  explained  to  him  that  as  his  boarding-house 
was  outside  of  my  jurisdiction  as  Chief  of  Police,  that  I  really 
would  have  no  right  to  go  there,  but  that  I  would  be  glad 
to  aid  him  to  the  best  of  my  ability ;  to  which  he  replied 
that  he  would  bring  the  trunk  to  my  office  as  requested,  and 
thanked  me  for  my  trouble. 

The  boys  then  left  the  office,  and  I  noticed  that  they  had 
^  horse  and  buggy,  in  which  they  departed.  While  this  con- 
versation was  going  on  between  myself  and  Brewer,  Col. 
Kelley  was  sitting  with  his  arms  folded,  intently  interested, 
but  silent.  When  they  had  gone  I  returned  to  my  office,  and 
sat  down,  where  the  colonel  was  waiting  for  me.  A.fter  I 
had  seated  myself  and  lighted  a  cigar  the  colonel  said  to  me, 
"Tom,  why  did  you  ask  those  boys  to  bring  that  trunk  here 
to  your  office?"  I  unhesitatingly  replied,  "'Colonel,  I  don't 
know."  Right  here  I  want  to  assure  the  reader  that  my  reply 
was  absolutely  the  truth.  I  really  had  no  idea  at  the  time 
that  I  asked  the  young  fellow  to  bring  his  trunk  to  my  office 
why  I  did  so,  other  than  that  I  had  seen,  while  in  the  company 
of  other  Chiefs  of  Police  and  detectives,  that  they,  as  a  rule, 
invariably  cast  as  much  mystery  as  possible  about  their  work 
v/hen  dealing  with  people  outside  of  their  departments. 
Neither  did  I  feel  at  liberty  to  admit  to  these  young  men  that 
I  felt  incapable  of  solving  the  mystery  surrounding  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  money.  All  of  which  I  explained  to  the 
colonel.  He  laughingly  shook  his  head  and  said,  "Tom,  you 
are  a  detective,  sure  enough.  You  are  not  candid  in  this 
explanation  that  you  have  given  to  me,  but  I  beg  your  pardon, 
as  it  is  really  presumptuous  on  my  part  to  ask  you  such  ques- 


126  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

tions.  However,  I  will  just  wait  and  watch  the  outcome,  which 
I  believe  will  be  all  right."  I  tried  to  answer  the  colonel  that 
I  had  been  candid  with  him,  but  it  was  in  vain. 

In  due  time,  during  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  the  boys 
returned  to  my  office,  carrying  the  trunk  between  them. 
Col-  Kelley  was  on  hand,  as  he  had  evidently  been  watching 
for  them  and  had  seen  them  as  they  entered  my  office.  I 
asked  him  to  be  seated,  and  said  to  Brewer,  "I  wish  that  you 
would  place  that  trunk  in  this  room  in  as  near  the  same  posi- 
tion as  it  was  in  your  room  at  the  boarding-house." 

Brewer  said,  "Our  room  is  square  and  nearly  the  shape  of 
this  office,  but  not  so  large.  There  are  two  windows  in  the 
west  side  of  our  room.  They  are  about  five  feet  apart."  And 
he  placed  the  trunk  against  the  wall  of  the  office  between  two 
windows,  which  were  farther  apart  than  the  windows  in  his 
room.  After  he  had  placed  the  trunk,  I  said  to  him,  "Now, 
I  want  you  to  approach  the  trunk  just  as  you  did  this  morning, 
when  you  missed  your  money,  unlock  the  trunk,  and  go 
through  the  same  motions  that  you  did  until  you  discovered 
the  loss." 

He  approached  the  trunk,  got  down  on  his  right  knee,  un- 
strapped the  trunk,  produced  a  key,  unlocked  it,  turned  the 
lid  back  against  the  wall,  then  removed  the  tray  which  covered 
the  portion  of  the  trunk  below  the  lid.  This  trunk  was  a 
cheap  one,  covered  with  an  imitation  of  leather,  and  was  com- 
paratively new.  The  trunk  and  tray  were  lined  with  a  deli- 
cate blue  paper.  The  tint  was  of  such  a  color  that  it  would 
easily  soil.  The  tray  had  sides  and  ends  which  were  perhaps 
two  inches  deep,  and  slid  down  into  the  lower  half  of  the  trunk 
from  the  lid,  where  it  rested  upon  two  cleats  at  either  end. 
It  fitted  the  trunk  snugly.  There  were  two  straps  of  light 
colored  tape,  which  were  about  an  inch  wide  and  were  fastened 
with  carpet  tacks  to  the  center  of  each  end  of  the  tray.    These 


SOLVING  A  TRUNK  MYSTERY.  127 

tapes  acted  as  handles  by  which  the  tray  could  be  lifted  from 
the  trunk.  Brewer  had  to  work  for  some  time  to  get  the  tray 
up  out  of  the  trunk,  for  the  reason  that  one  of  the  tape  straps 
had  evidently  been  recently  jerked  from  its  fastenings.  As  stated 
before,  these  tapes  had  been  fastened  to  the  tray  by  means  of 
four  large-sized  carpet  tacks.  When  the  one  strap  had  been 
jerked  off  the  tack  remained  firm  in  the  tray,  but  the  heads 
of  the  tacks  had  been  pulled  off.  This  left  a  sharp  point  on 
one  of  the  tacks,  which  projected  from  the  wood  about  one- 
sixteenth  of  an  inch,  and  like  a  needle  point. 

While  Brewer  was  trying  to  remove  the  tray  I  was  kneel- 
ing down  at  one  end  of  the  trunk  and  noticed  the  sharp  point 
on  the  tack.  I  also  noticed  the  mark  of  a  thumb,  which  had 
been  greasy  and  dirty,  and  which  had  been  pressed  over  the 
tack  as  the  light  paper  plainly  showed. 

Meanwhile,  the  young  man  whom  I  supposed  was  the 
brother,  was  standing  at  the  other  end  of  the  trunk  opposite 
me,  when  I  happened  to  look  up  just  as  he  turned  around 
towards  me,  with  his  hands  by  his  side.  I  noticed  that  the 
thumb  on  his  right  hand,  which  was  calloused  and  dirty,  had 
been  cut  diagonally  across,  leaving  the  cut  about  three-quarters 
of  an  inch  long,  and  about  a  thirty-second  of  an  inch  deep. 
The  cut  was  fresh  and  was  beginning  to  gape  open,  although 
not  deep  enough  to  bring  blood.  The  hands  of  all  men  em- 
ployed around  oil  wells  become  more  or  less  saturated  with 
oil,  and  are  rough  and  calloused.  Generally  they  present  a 
dirty  and  greasy  appearance.  As  the  fellow  turned  and  I  got 
a  glimpse  of  the  cut  in  the  thumb,  I  rose  from  beside  the  trunk, 
faced  him,  and  instantly  seized  his  right  hand.  I  carefully 
examined  the  cut,  then  looked  at  the  imprint  on  the  end  of 
the  tray,  and  pointing  to  the  stain,  said  to  him  in  a  sharp,  com- 
manding tone,  "Wiiere  is  this  man's  money?" 


128 


FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 


'Where  is  this  man's  money?" 


SOLVING  A  TRUNK  MYSTERY.  129 

He  began  to  cry,  and  said,  "If  you  will  let  me  go  I  will 
get  the  money." 

I  asked  him  where  the  money  was,  and  he  said,  "I  hid  it 
yesterday  under  the  carpet  in  the  hall  at  the  boarding-house." 

Meanwhile,  Brewer  had  turned  ashy  pale,  and  burst  into 
tears,  exclaiming,  "My  God,  Chief,  I  am  sorry  to  learn  that 
he,  above  all  other  men,  has  taken  my  money.  He  knew  all 
about  it.  He  was  the  only  person  who  knew  that  I  kept  the 
money  where  I  did.  We  have  been  raised  together.  He  was 
my  schoolmate  and  is  now  my  room-mate.  His  father  and 
mother  live  in  Ohio  and  are  our  nearest  neighbors.  It  would 
kill  them  to  know  that  Jim  would  do  a  thing  like  this.  His 
name  is  Jim  Davis." 

I  said  to  Davis,  "Will  you  go  with  Brewer  and  get  that 
money  and  turn  it  over  to  him,  intact?"  He  promised  that 
he  would  do  so,  but  he  said,  "Chief,  I  cannot  get  the  money 
from  its  hiding  place  unobserved  until  after  the  people  in  the 
house  have  gone  to  bed,  tonight  " 

"That  will  be  all  right,"  said  Brewer,  "I  know  Jim  will  do 
as  he  promises.  Now,  Chief,  if  you  will  not  arrest  him  I 
will  gladly  pay  you  anything  that  you  may  charge  me,  but 
please  do  not  arrest  him.  I  could  not  appear  against  him  in 
court,  for  if  I  did  so  it  would  kill  his  mother,  and  probably 
my  mother  too." 

I  replied  that  I  would  make  no  charges  for  my  services,  and 
if  he  was  satisfied  it  did  not  matter  to  me.  I  said,  "You  may 
take  charge  of  him,  and  if  he  does  not  turn  the  money  over 
to  you  at  once,  I  will  take  the  matter  up  and  have  him  punished 
according  to  law." 

The  boys  left  with  the  trunk,  and  the  next  day  Brewer  called 
upon  me  and  told  me  that  Davis  had  turned  all  the  money 
over  to  him,  and  had  then  attempted  to  commit  suicide.  He 
had  gone  to  a  near-by  drug  store  and  purchased  a  quantity  of 


130  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

poison  with  suicidal  intent.  Suspecting  that  Davis  had  con- 
templated ending  his  life,  Brewer  had  detailed  a  trusted  and 
mutual  friend  to  watch  him,  unknown  to  Davis,  and  who 
seized  him  and  took  the  poison  away  from  him  before  he  could 
use  it. 

Davis  and  Brewer  were  friends  afterwards  and  became  in- 
separable, as  they  had  been  before  that  time.  If  the  parents 
of  either  of  them  ever  heard  of  the  occurrence  I  am  not  aware 
of  it. 

After  the  boys  had  left.  Col.  Kelley,  who  had  taken  in  the 
entire  proceedings  in  silence,  came  to  me  with  moisture  in 
his  eyes,  and  said,  "Chief,  you  are  a  brick." 


THE  GLENCOE  TRAIN  ROBBERY. 

ARREST  AND  CONVICTION  OF  BILLY   LOWE    AND  GEORGE   EBBER- 
LING. — A  PIECE  OF  QUICK  WORK. 

Glencoe  is  a  small  station  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway, 
twenty-nine  miles  west  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  An  east 
bound  train  which  carried  both  mail  and  passengers  was 
boarded  on  the  night  of  February  21,  1910,  by  two  men,  who 
climbed  on  the  front  end  of  what  is  known  by  railroad  men  as 
the  blind  baggage,  next  to  the  tender  of  the  engine.  These 
micn  were  unobserved  until  the  train  had  passed  Glencoe  sta- 
tion, when  they  climbed  over  the  top  of  the  tank  to  the  engine 
and  covered  the  engineer  and  fireman  with  drawn  revolvers. 
They  were  both  masked  with  handkerchiefs  tied  over  the  lower 
portion  of  their  faces,  which  entirely  concealed  their  features 
below  the  eyes.  They  wore  slouch  hats  and  were  described 
by  the  engineer  and  fireman  and  other  members  of  the  train 
crew  who  saw  them — one  as  a  short,  stout  built  man  with 
very  black  hair ;  the  other  as  a  tall,  square-shouldered  fellow  with 


THE  GLENCOE  TRAIN  ROBBERY.  131 

light-brown  hair,  and  apparently  younger  than  his  stout 
partner.  The  stout  man  was  described  as  having  handled  and 
carried  his  revolver  in  his  left  hand,  while  his  right  hand  was 
bandaged  and  appeared  to  have  been  injured.  He  also  was 
reported  as  having  acted  as  chief  and  to  have  given  all  orders, 
and  to  have  handled  the  locomotive  as  though  he  was  as  per- 
fectly familiar  with  the  vv'ork  as  an  experienced  locomotive 
engineer.  These  men  compelled  the  engineer  to  bring  the 
train  to  a  full  stop.  They  then  made  the  engineer  and  fire- 
man accompany  them  back  to  the  rear  end  of  the  last  mail 
car,  when  the  engineer  was  forced  to  disconnect  the  two  mail 
cars  from  the  rest  of  the  train.  Then  the  engineer  and  fire- 
man were  marched  back  to  the  engine,  and  after  all  four  men 
had  again  entered  the  cab,  the  short  man  took  charge  of  the 
engine,  and  pulled  the  express  and  two  mail  cars  to  a  point 
about  three  miles  east  of  where  the  rest  of  the  train  had  been 
left  with  the  crew.  They  stopped  at  this  point  on  the  main 
track  and  began  rifling  the  sealed  mail  pouches  in  one  of  the 
mail  cars,  continuing  this  for  several  minutes,  cutting  open 
the  sealed  pouches  and  taking  therefrom  all  the  registered 
mail.  They  finally  concluded  that  they  were  consuming  too 
much  time,  as  trains  were  liable  to  approach  from  the  east. 
They,  therefore,  seized  a  number  of  large  mail  pouches  filled 
with  registered  mail,  and,  after  instructing  the  engineer  and 
fireman  to  back  the  engine  to  Glencoe  and  take  up  the  rest 
of  the  train  again,  the  men  left  the  railroad  on  foot,  each  of 
them  being  loaded  down  with  the  registered  mail  pouches, 
which  they  had  taken  from  the  car-  They  hid  these  mail 
bags  in  a  stack  of  corn-shucks  in  a  cornfield  near  the  bank 
of  the  Meramec  River.  They  had  previously  stolen  a  skiff, 
or  rowboat,  which  they  had  hidden  in  a  clump  of  bushes  on 
the  bank  of  the  river  near  the  cornfield.  They  took  this 
rowboat  and  made  their  way  down  the  Meramec  River  a  few 


132  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

miles,  where  they  left  the  boat  and  made  their  way  overland 
back  to  St.  Louis- 

On  the  morning  of  February  22,  I  happened  to  be  in  New 
York  City  and  upon  picking  up  a  morning  paper  I  read  the 
account  of  the  train  robbery  and  the  description  that  had  been 
given  by  the  train  crew  of  the  robbers.  I  immediately  tele- 
graphed to  the  manager  of  my  office  in  St.  Louis  to  go  and 
tell  Mr.  Dixon,  of  St.  Louis,  Postoffice  Inspector  in  charge 
of  the  district  of  Missouri,  that  I  knew  who  the  train  robbers 
were,  and  where  they  could  be  found,  and  that  I  would  be  in 
St.  Louis  the  following  Saturday  and  that  I  would  get  the 
guilty  men  and  turn  them  over  to  him  or  to  his  assistants  in 
case  he,  Mr.  Dixon,  and  his  force  had  not  succeeded  in  locat- 
ing and  arresting  the  guilty  men  before  I  returned  to  St. 
Louis. 

On  my  return  the  following  Saturday  I  found  Mr.  Dixon 
awaiting  me.  I  told  him  that  I  was  satisfied,  from  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  robbers,  that  Billy  Lowe  was  the  leader  in  the 
Glencoe  Train  Robbery.  I  told  about  having  arrested  Lowe 
eleven  years  before  for  having  taken  part,  with  others,  in  the 
Leads  Junction  Train  Robbery,  which  had  occurred  on  the 
Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  just  east  and  south  of  Kansas  City- 
He  with  the  others  had  held  up  the  train  and  had  blown  the 
express  car  to  pieces  with  dynamite.  I  also  told  him  that  I 
had  finally  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  Lowe  a  complete  con- 
fession as  to  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  Leads  Robbery, 
and  also  the  names  of  his  associates  in  the  crime. 

Some  of  his  other  companions  were  also  arrested  at  the 
time.  Lowe  took  the  witness  stand  and  by  his  testimony 
fully  substantiated  the  confession  that  he  had  made  to  me  in 
the  presence  of  John  Hayes,  who  was  then  Chief  of  Police  of 
Kansas  City,  Missouri,  and  D.  F.  Harbaugh,  one  of  my  men 
at  that  time.     Lowe  afterwards  reiterated  this  confession  to 


THE  GLENCOE  TRAIN  ROBBERY.  133 

the  prosecuting  attorney  of  Kansas  City-  The  prosecutor's 
name    I    do   not   now   remember. 

Lowe  having-  taken  the  witness  stand  and  having  promised 
the  Chief  of  PoHce  and  Prosecuting  Attorney  and  myself  that 
he  would  thereafter  lead  an  honest  life,  the  prosecuting  attorney 
annulled  the  proceedings  against  him  and  after  the  trial  of  his 
associates  Lowe  was  dismissed.  He  was  a  thorough  railroad 
man.  He  came  to  St.  Louis  and  obtained  employment  as  a 
switchman  in  the  yards  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  where 
he  met  and  formed  the  acquaintance  of  one  George  Ebberling, 
also  a  switchman.  He  and  Ebberling  became  fast  friends 
and  continued  to  work  for  the  Iron  Mountain  for  several  years, 
when  they  left  the  company's  service  and  went  to  St.  Paul, 
Minnesota,  where  they  obtained  employment  in  the  train  service 
of  the  Great  Northern  Railway  Company,  and  finally  worked 
their  way  to  Spokane,  Washington. 

In  the  meantime  I  kept  track  of  them,  believing  that  it  would 
be  only  a  question  of  time  until  Lowe  would  become  a  train 
robber  again.  During  the  years  of  1908  and  1909  a  number 
of  trains  were  held  up  and  robbed  in  the  vicinity  of  Spokane, 
and  I,  knowing  that  Lowe  was  there,  wrote  the  officers  of  the 
Great  Northern  Company  that  I  believed  that  I  knew  who 
the  guilty  parties  were  and  where  they  could  be  found-  But 
these  officers  apparently  did  not  deem  the  information  I  had 
sent  them  worth  answering,  as  I  did  not  hear  from  them. 

I  knew  that  both  Billy  Lowe  and  Ebberling  were  in  St.  Louis 
prior  to  the  Glencoe  Train  Robbery.  They  had  returned  early 
in  January  and  I  immediately  had  placed  a  shadow  on  their 
movements,  and  when  I  read  the  description  of  the  men  who 
had  robbed  the  train  at  Glencoe  I  at  once  became  satisfied 
that  Lowe  was  the  man  who  had  handled  the  engine.  He 
had  visited  my  office  the  day  preceding  the  Glencoe  affiair,  and 
his  right  hand  was  bandaged  by  reason  of  boils  that  he  had  on 


134         ■         FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

his  wrist  )ust  above  the  hand ;  and  then  the  description  in  the 
New  York  papers  was  almost  a  perfect  description  of  Lowe, 
and  also  the  description  of  the  tall  man  given  in  the  paper 
was  that  of  Ebberling. 

As  soon  as  they  arrived  in  St.  Louis,  Lowe  had  rented  an 
office  room  on  the  upper  floor  of  the  Granite  Building,  on 
the  southwest  corner  of  4th  and  Market  streets,  Lowe 
furnished  his  office  and  had  a  number  of  maps  and  charts  of 
mining  lands  in  Alaska,  and  offered  mining  stocks  for  sale  in 
that  country.  Ebberling  left  St.  Louis  immediately  after  the 
Glencoe  robbery. 

A  day  or  so  after  the  robbery,  a  country  merchant,  who 
resides  in  a  small  town  near  Kansas  City,  furnished  the  post- 
office  inspector  with  a  clue  which  afterwards  proved  that  I 
was  right  in  suspecting  Lowe  and  Ebberling  of  the  crime. 
This  merchant  owed  a  St.  Louis  wholesale  house  a  bill  in  the 
neighborhood  of  $100.00.  He  had,  on  the  day  before  the 
robbery,  remitted  the  amount  by  registered  letter,  keeping 
a  memorandum  of  the  size,  series  and  numbers  of  the  bills. 
When  he  first  heard  of  the  robbery,  and  knowing  that  his 
package  was  probably  a  part  of  the  loot,  the  merchant  sent 
a  copy  of  the  memorandum  to  the  postoffice  inspector-  The 
inspector  had  several  hundred  copies  of  the  memorandum 
printed  and  forwarded  to  the  officials  of  the  banks  within  a 
radius  of  five  hundred  miles  of  St.  Louis.  Within  twenty- 
four  hours  after  the  distribution  of  these  circulars,  one  of  the 
bills,  a  ten-dollar  gold  certificate,  was  presented  at  the  receiv- 
ing teller's  window  of  a  Hot  Springs  National  Bank,  by  one 
of  its  lady  depositors — the  keeper  of  a  rooming  house  in  that 
city.  On  being  questioned  as  to  where  she  had  obtained  the 
bill,  the  lady  told  the  teller  one  of  her  roomers,  Mr.  George 
Ebberling,  had  given  it  to  her  in  exchange  for  a  week's  room 
rent. 


THE  GLENCOE  TRAIN  ROBBERY. 


135 


In  the  meantime,  I  having  learned  that  EbberHng  had  gone  to 
Hot  Springs  and  his  address  there,  notified  Inspector  Dixon, 
who  immediately  sent  one  of  his  assistants  to  Ebberling's 
lodging  place,  where  he  secured  an  adjoining  room  to  enable 
him  to  keep  a  closer  watch  on  the  suspected  mail  robber. 
The  teller  of  the  bank  reported  the  finding  of  the  bill  to  In- 


WiLLiAM  W.  Lowe.  George  Ebberling. 

Train  robber  and  thief  now  doing  Train  robber  and  thief  who  assist- 

a  long  sentence  for  robbing  ed  Lowe  in  many  of  his  robber- 

a  mail  train  near  St.  Louis.  ies,  also  doing  time. 

spector    Dixon    promptly,   and    we   immediately    planned   the 
arrest  of  Lowe. 

The  following  morning  accompanied  by  two  of  Mr.  Dixon's 
postoffice  inspectors,  James  Smith,  Chief  of  Detectives  of  St, 
Louis,  and  two  of  his  men,  and  my  Assistant  Superintendent, 
J.  S.  Manning,  I  went  to  Lowe's  office  in  the  Granite  Building, 


136  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

having  previously  been  advised  by  Mr.  Manning-  that  the  man 
under  suspicion  was  in  his  office.  I  pointed  Lowe  out  to  the 
city  officers,  who  arrested  him  promptly.  He  was  locked  up 
and  after  his  arrest,  Mr.  Dixon  telegraphed  his  inspector  at 
Hot  Springs  to  arrest  Ebberling  immediately  and  bring  him  to 
St-  Louis.  After  Ebberling  had  been  arrested  at  Hot  Springs, 
when  he  was  asked  how  he  got  possession  of  the  ten-dollar 
note,  before  mentioned,  he  confessed  that  he  had  gotten  it 
from  Billy  Lowe  and  made  a  further  and  full  confession  as 
to  how  he  and  Lowe  had  robbed  the  train  at  Glencoe. 

Lowe  did  not  make  a  confession,  nor  did  he  make  any 
.admission  as  to  his  connection  with  the  robbery;  on  the  con- 
trary, he  strenuously  denied  everything. 

In  his  confession,  Ebberling  stated  that  Jimmy  Lowe,  a 
younger  brother  of  Billy's,  knew  all  about  the  robbery,  and 
would  have  taken  part  in  it  but  for  the  fact  that  he  became 
intoxicated  on  the  evening  the  robbery  was  scheduled  to  take 
place  and  could  not  make  the  trip.  Ebberling  also  stated 
that  James  Lowe  had  visited  the  cache  in  South  St.  Louis 
where  the  guns  and  masks  had  been  hidden,  and  brought 
them  to  St.  Louis  and  delivered  them  to  Billy  Lowe  at  his 
mother's  house. 

The  amount  of  money  secured  from  the  rifled  mail  pouches, 
according  to  Ebberling,  was  between  six  and  seven  hundred 
dollars,  but  the  pouches  which  had  been  ''stashed"  in  the 
cornfield  by  the  robbers,  and  afterwards  recovered  by  the 
officers,  contained  a  great  deal  more  than  this  amount. 

Ebberling  and  Lowe  were  tried  in  the  April  term  of  the 
Federal  Court  at  St.  Louis  and  were  convicted — Lowe  being 
sentenced  to  forty-three  years  at  Leavenworth,  United  States 
Penitentiary,  and  a  fine  of  $3,000.00,  or  the  equivalent  of  two 
years  in  prison.  Ebberling  was  sentenced  to  eighteen  years  in 
Leavenworth  Prison,  and  fined  $3,000.00.     Jimmy  Lowe,  who 


RUNNING  DOWN  THE  REVOLUTIONISTS.      137 

had  laid  in  jail  for  months  and  had  taken  the  witness  stand  for 
the  Government,  was  released  and  is  now  leading  an  honest 
life,  so  far  as  I  know. 

After  arriving  at  the  penitentiary  Ebberling  made  a  further 
confession  in  which  he  stated  that  he  and  W.  W.  Lowe  had 
held  up  and  robbed  eleven  trains  at  different  points  on  the 
Great  Northern  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  lines  in 
the  vicinity  of  Spokane,  during  1908  and  1909,  and  in  this 
statement  he  described  so  accurately  the  places  at  which  he 
and  Lowe  had  hidden  certain  property  they  had  secured  in 
these  robberies  that  the  United  States  authorities  went  to 
the  places  designated  and  recovered  the  property.  Lowe  and 
Ebberling  have  since  been  indicted  for  these  robberies,  proving 
conclusively  that  I  was  right  when  I  wrote  the  officers  of  the 
roads  named  that  I  believed  I  knew  who  the  parties  were  who 
had  been  holding  up  and  robbing  their  trains. 

The  Great  Northern  and  the  Northern  Pacific  had  offered 
rewards  for  the  arrest  and  conviction  of  the  parties  who  had 
committed  these  depredations,  which  aggregate,  I  understand, 
$20,000.00;  but,  as  I  have  always  strictly  adhered  to  a  rule 
that  I  formed  early  in  my  career,  never  to  work  for  or  receive 
rewards  that  might  be  offered  for  the  arrest  and  conviction 
of  any  person,  I  did  not  claim  the  rewards  offered  by  the 
two  railroads.  My  reason  for  not  accepting  rewards  is 
fully  explained  in  another  portion  of  this  book. 


RUNNING  DOWN  THE  REVOLUTIONISTS. 

DIFFICULT    PIECE    OF    DETECTIVE    WORK    PERFORMED    FOR    THE 
MEXICAN  GOVERNMENT^ — SENSATIONAL  SCENES  ATTENDING 
THE    ARREST  OP  THE    LEADERS. 

Early  in  the  Twentieth  Century  a  movement,  which  had  for 
its  object  the  overthrow  of  the  Diaz  government  in  Mexico, 


138  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

crystalized.  The  revolutionists  went  about  this  work  very 
quietly  at  the  beginning,  but  later  be^^ame  more  bold,  and  final- 
ly the  majority  of  the  leaders  in  the  movement  were  driven 
from  that  country.  Headquarters  were  first  established  at 
Laredo,  across  the  border,  but  afterwards  at  El  Paso  and  at 
Tombstone,   Arizona. 

As  this  was  a  violation  of  the  neutrality  laws,  at  the  instance 
of  the  Mexican  government  the  El  Paso  and  Tombstone  junta 
were  broken  up,  and  its  officers  disappeared.  Within  a  few 
months  the  Mexican  government  learned  that  the  revolution- 
ists had  again  gotten  together,  and  were  once  more  flooding 
that  country  with  inflammable  literature.  I  was  employed  in 
1907  by  Enrique  C  Creel,  at  that  time  Governor  of  Chihuahua, 
to  locate  the  new  headquarters  of  the  junta,  and  find  out  what 
was  going  on.  I  soon  went  to  work  on  the  case,  and  found 
that  the  new  headquarters  of  the  revolutionists  had  been 
established  in  St.  Louis,  in  the  900  block  on  North  Channing 
avenue.  Ricardo  Flores  Magon  was  the  president,  Antonio 
I.  Villerreal,  Vice-President,  and  Labardo  Rivera,  Secretary, 
of  the  junta-  I  also  learned  that  Ricardo  Flores  Magon  was 
editing  ,and  publishing  a  scurrilous  and  inflammatory  paper  in 
St.  Louis  under  a  fictitious  name.  The  paper  was  supposed 
to  be  published  monthly,  and  was  called  the  Mexican  Re"- 
generacion.  Magon's  stafif  consisted  of  his  brother,  Enrique 
Flores  Magon,  Antonio  I.  Villerreal,  Labrado  Rivera,  and  a 
number  of  lesser  lights,  among  them  Munwell  Lo  Fez,  Manuel 
Sarabia,  Tomaso  Sarabia,  and  a  number  of  women,  two  of 
whom  were  sisters  of  Villerreal. 

Villerreal's  father,  who  was  a  very  old  man,  sold  news- 
papers on  the  streets  of  St.  Louis  for  a  living.  Villerreal's 
sisters  were  named  Andrea,  the  elder,  and  Teresa,  the  younger. 

Antonio  de  P.  Araujo  used  the  following  aliases,  German 
Riesco,  Alberto  M.  Ricaurte,  Joaquin  P.  Calvo,  Luis  F.  Carlo, 


RUNNING  DOWN  THE  REVOLUTIONISTS.       139 

and  A.  G.  Hermandez.  Tomaso  S.  Labrado  was  a  protege, 
a  sort  of  a  "man  Friday"  for  Antonio  de  P.  Araujo.  Araujo 
made  his  headquarters  at  Austin,  Texas,  for  quite  a  while,  but 
finally  established  his  permanent  abode  at  McAlester,  Okla- 
homa, and  was  a  live  wire. 

Villerreal's  sisters  lived  in  a  basement  with  their  old  father 
for  a  while.  Their  place  of  residence  was  East  Convent 
street,  St.  Louis.  It  was  the  basement  of  a  rickety  old  tene- 
ment house,  and  besides  themselves  and  their  father,  there  was 
a  woman  who  represented  herself  to  be  the  aunt  of  Ricardo 
Flores  Magon,  and  gave  her  name  as  LoPaz.  I  never  heard 
of  her  claiming  any  relationship  with  Enrique  Flores  Magon, 
who  was  Ricardo  Flores  Magon's  brother.  The  old  mother 
of  Juan  Sarabia,  and  the  wife  and  two  children  of  Labrado 
Rivera,  also  lived  in  the  same  place.  Juan  Sarabia  was  the 
cous(p  of  Manuel  and  Tomaso  Sarabia,  who  were  brothers. 
The  entire  furnishings  of  this  hovel  could  have  been  moved 
in  two  good  wheel  barrow  loads.  The  whole  outfit  was  very 
poor  and  lived  in  what  appeared  to  be  abject  poverty  and  filth. 
None  of  the  members  of  the  junta  were  in  any  way  connected 
with  the  first  families  of  Mexico- 

To  write  up  the  characteristics,  ideas,  habits  and  the  practices 
of  the  members  of  the  St.  Louis  junta,  I  have  material  enough 
to  cover  reams  of  foolscap,  much  of  which  would  be  uninter- 
esting to  the  American  people.  I  will,  therefore,  confine  my- 
self to  the  final  locating  of  Magon,  Villerreal  and  Labrado 
Rivera,  the  originators  and  the  ringleaders  of  the  conspiracy, 
their  arrest  in  Los  Angeles  and  their  extradition  to  Tomb- 
stone, Arizona,  after  they  had  been  in  jail  for  nearly  two  years, 
during  which  time  they  exhausted  all  legal  resources  in  at- 
tempting to  avoid  extradition  to  Arizona,  where  they  stood 
charged  with  having  violated  the  United  States  neutrality 
laws.     A  large  sum  of  money  was  raised  and  contributed  by 


140  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

sympathizing  Mexicans  who  resided  in  and  about  Los  Angeles, 
as  well  as  by  the  different  labor  organizations,  to  assist 
them  in  their  defense.  The  laboring  classes  in  California  and 
throughout  the  United  States  sympathized  with  these  so- 
called  revolutionists,  Magon  and  his  party,  as  much  as  though 
they  had  been  respectable,  honest  working  people.  If  the 
Magons,  or  any  of  his  followers,  mentioned  heretofore,  ever 
did  a  noble  or  patriotic  act  in  their  lives,  either  in  the  United 
States  or  Mexico,  I  have  never  succeeded  in  learning  of  the 
fact,  and  from  the  information  I  obtained  I  am  satisfied  that 
none  of  them  ever  attempted  to  earn  a  living  by  honest  labor. 

I  succeeded  in  locating,  Magon,  Villerreal  and  Rivera  in  a 
cabin  in  the  western  part  of  Los  Angeles,  where  they  were 
entire  strangers  and  their  real  identity  was  known  to  but  two 
people  in  the  city.  Magon  had  made  it  a  rule  to  never  trust 
his  fellow  countrymen,  or  any  one  else.  Many  Mexicans  in 
Los  Angeles  knew  Magon  was  in  or  near  the  city,  and  knew 
him  as  the  leader  of  the  Mexican  rebellion,  but  did  not  know 
hirn  personally,  nor  would  he  permit  them  to  know  him. 

There  was  a  man  there  by  the  name  of  Modeska  Diaz,  who 
knew  Magon  and  his  party  was  in  the  city  and  visited  him  in 
his  sanctum,  always  between  midnight  and  daylight.  Magon 
used  this  man's  name,  Modeska  Diaz,  as  the  editor  of  his 
paper  in  Los  Angeles.  There  was  also  a  married  woman,  a 
Mexican,  fairly  good  looking,  thirty-eight  or  forty  years  of 
age,  light  complexioned  and  an  admirer  of  Ricardo  Flores 
Magon,  and  this  admiration  was  reciprocated.  She  visited 
him  occasionally,  always  at  late  hours.  She  and  the  man  Diaz 
were  the  only  persons  in  Los  Angeles  who  were  aware  of 
Magon's  place  of  abode.  They  were  also  the  only  people  in 
Los  Angeles  who  knew  him  personally. 

After  I  had  succeeded  in  locating  the  cabin  where  these 
men  were  living,  I  was  fortunate  in  securing  rooms  just  across 


RUNNING  DOWN  THE  REVOLUTIONISTS.       141 

the  street  and  from  my  window  was  able  to  watch  everything 
that  went  on  in  the  retreat  of  the  Magon  party-  I  kept  them 
under  surveillance,  day  and  night,  for  a  month  before  making 
the  arrests.  They  left  in  the  day  time  and  did  all  their  work 
at  night,  beginning  as  soon  as  it  got  dark  and  keeping  up 
their  work  until  daylight. 

I  soon  discovered  that  Villerreal  was  absent.  He  had  been 
arrested  by  the  United  States  authorities  the  year  before  at 
El  Paso,  Texas,  and  placed  in  jail,  where  he  remained  for 
months,  and  was  finally  put  in  charge  of  a  deputy  United 
States  marshal,  who  started  to  escort  him  across  the  line,  as 
an  undesirable  citizen,  but  en  route  he  obtained  permission 
from  his  guard  to  enter  a  telegraph  office  at  El  Paso,  claiming 
that  he  wished  to  notify  his  sisters,  by  telegraph,  that  he  was 
being  deported.  He  left  the  officer  standing  at  the  front 
door  of  the  telegraph  office  and  passed  through  the  place  and 
escaped  by  the  rear  door,  and  thereby  established  a  great 
reputation  for  himself  among  the  lower  classes  of  his  fellow 
countrymen.  The  newspapers  made  a  great  sensation  of  the 
affair,  and  referred  to  it  as  a  hair-breadth  and  miraculous 
escape  from  the  United  States  authorities.  The  facts  are, 
that  his  escape  was  from  one  deputy  United  States  marshal,  a 
half-breed  Mexican,  who  was  almost  immediately  after  Viller- 
real's  escape  dismissed  from  the  service.  It  was  afterwards 
rumored  around  El  Paso  that  the  deputy  had  been  bribed.  For 
this  reason  I  decided  not  to  arrest  the  others  until  Villerreal 
appeared  on  the  scene.  I  felt  sure  that  it  would  be  only  a 
question  of  time  when  he  would  join  his  master,  Magon,  in 
Los  Angeles,  as  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to  make  his 
report  to  Magon  on  the  progress  in  the  mission  that  had  been 
assigned  to  him  in  Arizona. 

Finally,  on  the  night  of  August  22nd,  about  midnight,  Vil- 
lerreal was  seen  to  enter  the  cabin.     Satisfying  myself  as  to 


142  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

his  identity,  I  decided  to  arrest  them  the  following  day, 
August  23rd. 

We  had  discovered  that  the  inmates  of  the  cabin  used  large 
coal-oil  lamps,  and,  as  I  expected  Magon  and  his  companions 
Vv'ould  resist  arrest,  there  was  a  chance  that  the  lamps  might 
be  upset  and  explode.  This  would  set  fire  to  the  place,  and 
thereby  destroy  papers  and  documentary  proofs,  and  for  this 
reason  I  decided  to  make  the  arrests  in  daylight. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  23rd,  we  surrounded 
the  cabin.  I  had  with  me  two  Los  Angeles  police  officers  and 
two  of  my  own  men-  We  found  Villerreal  and  Magon  asleep, 
and  Rivera  sitting  in  a  chair,  also  in  slumberland,  although  he 
was  supposed  to  be  on  guard  at  the  back  door.  Our  appear- 
ance had  been  so  quietly  arranged  that  the  parties  were  com- 
pletely taken  by  surprise  and  did  not  have  time  to  reach  their 
arms.  They  fought  hard,  however,  and  continued  to  struggle 
all  the  way  from  the  cabin  to  the  jail,  a  distance  of  at  least 
three  miles.  A  wagon  happened  to  pass  the  place  at  the  time 
and  I  pressed  it  into  service,  and  it  kept  us  busy  to  keep  the 
prisoners  in  the  wagon,  as  they  struggled  and  fought  the  entire 
distance,  and  kept  up  a  continual  squawking,  which  reminded 
one  of  a  flock  of  wild  geese.  None  of  them  spoke  English,  and 
the  only  things  they  could  say  were  that  they  were  being  kid- 
napped and  the  words  "help"  and  "Liberales." 

It  was  just  the  time  in  the  evening  when  people  were  leaving 
their  places  of  work  and  going  home,  and  the  streets  were 
thronged  with  people.  We  had  to  go  north  on  Spring  street, 
the  principal  street  of  the  city.  By  reason  of  the  continual 
uproar  created  by  the  prisoners  it  proved  to  be  the  most 
sensational  arrest  that  had  ever  been  made  in  Los  Angeles 
up  to  that  time. 

We  landed  them  safely  in  the  city  prison,  and  without  any 
one  sustaining  serious  injury,  except  a  few  teeth  knocked  out. 


RUNNING  DOWN  THE  REVOLUTIONISTS.      143 

bruised  faces  and  black  eyes.  To  my  great  surprise  Villerreal, 
who  had  been  so  much  lauded  for  his  undaunted  courage,  was 
the  easiest  one  of  the  party  to  subdue,  and  seemed  to  possess 
the  least  courage  of  anyone  in  the  party. 

A  remarkable  feature  of  this  affair  was  that  this  party  of 
agitators  appealed  to  the  sympathy  of  the  working  element. 
The  laboring  classes,  nearly  to  a  man,  were  in  sympathy  with 
them.  I  know  that  none  of  them  had  ever  been  connected  with 
the  working  man's  interests,  nor  were  they  laboring  men 
themselves.  They  were  simply  agitators  and  people  who  were 
always  trying  to  obtain  something  for  nothing. 

Guiterrez  de  Lara  posed  as  a  Mexican  novel  writer,  and 
claimed  to  have  been  admitted  to  the  bar  as  a  lawyer  in  Mexico, 
and  fled  from  there,  going  to  Los  Angeles,  California,  Vv^here 
he  sought  refuge.  He  obtained  a  meal  ticket  by  marrying  the 
proprietress  of  a  lodging  house,  who  was  an  American  old 
enough  to  be  his  mother.  He  was  not  known  to  be  connected 
with  the  revolutionary  movement  in  Mexico,  and  was  entirely 
unknown  to  the  Magon  faction  until  he  broke  into  the  limelight 
after  Magon  and  his  party  had  been  arrested.  De  Lara  was 
tall,  inclined  to  be  slender,  had  long,  black,  wavy  hair,  which 
he  kept  carefully  parted  in  the  middle,  had  some  education, 
spoke  no  English,  and  was  a  typical  agitator,  and  opposed  to 
all  law,  order  or  government.  However,  he  was  not  suspected 
by  the  people  of  Los  Angeles  as  having  either  moral  or  phys- 
ical courage. 

Manuel  Sarabia,  one  of  their  number,  was  a  printer  by 
trade.  He  had  gone  to  Chicago  during  the  printers'  strike 
and  took  a  position  with  M.  A.  Donahue,  Hammond,  Ind.  He 
was  a  "scab"  printer  for  one  whole  winter.  I  had  him  under 
surveillance  all  the  time.  Magon  and  the  others  all  knew 
he  was  a  strike  breaker,  .as  he  had  been  in  communication 
with  them  from  time  to  time. 


144  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Rivera,  after  leaving  his  wife  and  children,  started  west  to 
join  Mag-on.  He  worked  his  way  from  Kansas  City  by  stealing 
rides  on  freight  trains,  and  in  the  same  way  from  there  to 
Denver,  Colorado.  Here  he  stayed  around  the  Union  depot, 
playing  porter  until  the  regular  porters  drove  him  away.  He 
next  made  his  way  to  Leadville  and  worked  there,  also  as  a 
"scab"  porter.  He  was  continuously  on  the  lookout  for  de- 
tectives, and  imagined  that  every  person  who  looked  at  him 
was  one,  when,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  knew  his  whereabouts 
continuously  from  the  time  he  left  St.  Louis  until  he  joined 
Magon  in  Los  Angeles-  In  fact,  it  was  by  following  him 
that  we  finally  located  Magon's  place  of  abode. 

Munwell  LoPaz  was  commissioned  by  Magon  as  general 
organizer  for  the  so-called  revolutionary  army.  He  went  from 
St.  Louis  to  San  Antonio,  Texas,  where  he  commenced  organiz- 
ing volunteers  for  the  "army,"  and  had  considerable  success, 
until  he  received  orders  to  go  to  Monterey,  Mexico,  for  the 
same  purpose.  On  receiving  these  orders  he  secured  the  ser- 
vices of  Tomaso  Labrada,  and  left  him  in  charge  of  his  affairs 
in  San  Antonio,  while  he  went  to  Monterey. 

One  of  our  operatives,  who  was  shadowing  him,  informed 
me  of  LoPaz's  movements.  I  was  in  San  Antonio  at  the  time. 
I  arrived  in  Monterey  twelve  hours  after  LoPaz  reached  there, 
and  the  following  day  I  succeeded  in  capturing  him  at  the 
postoffice  in  Monterey.  I  turned  him  over  to  the  authorities, 
and  some  credentials  and  other  papers  found  on  him  caused  the 
authorities  to  send  him.  immediately  to  the  City  of  Mexico. 

During  the  four  years  that  I  was  employed  by  the  Mexican 
Government  to  look  after  the  ]\iagon  faction,  I  came  in  con- 
tact with  a  number  of  the  leading  officers  of  that  government, 
among  them  President  Diaz,  Vice-President  Corral,  and 
Ambassador  to  the  United  States,  Enrique  C.  Creel,  and  his 
successor,"  Senor  De  La  Barra.     I  found  them  all  gentlemen, 


RUNNING  DOWN  THE  REVOLUTIONISTS.       145 

good  business  men,  honest,  high-minded,  and,  I  beUeve, 
thoroughly  loyal  to  the  people  of  Mexico.  I  found  that  the 
people  of  Mexico  seemed  to  have  great  confidence  in  and  re- 
spect for  President  Diaz.  All  the  officials  were  very  popular 
with  the  exception  of  Vice-President  Corral.  He  was  the 
most  unpopular  officer  connected  with  the  Mexican  government, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  dislike  the  people  of  Mexico 
bore  for  him  was  a  great  factor  in  creating  the  disfavor  that 
finally  caused  the  overthrow  of  Diaz's  administration- 

Ricardo  Flores  Magon  was  a  man  of  brain,  well  mannered, 
inclined  to  be  courteous,  and  educated  and  undoubtedly  intended 
for  a  leader  of  men,  but  he  was  unscrupulous  and  irresponsi- 
ble, and  was  an  anarchist  at  heart- 
Enrique  Flores  Magon,  his  younger  brother,  was  educated, 
with  a  disposition  and  manners  similar  to  those  of  his  brother, 
inclined  to  be  timid,  verging  on  cowardice. 

Lebrada  Rivera  was  forty  years  of  age,  small  of  stature, 
light  weight,  and  from  his  appearance  might  have  been  mis- 
taken for  a  Japanese.  He  was  well  educated  in  Spanish  and 
was  at  one  time  connected  with  the  university  or  school  at 
San  Luis  Potosi.  It  was  claimed  by  some  of  his  friends  that 
he  had  been  a  professor  of  this  school,  but,  by  his  appearance 
and  stibsequent  actions  he  was  more  like  a  janitor  or  assistant 
janitor. 

Villerreal  was  about  the  medium  height,  well  built  and 
rather  good  looking,  about  thirty-odd  years  of  age,  had  some 
education,  and  took  great  care  of  a  luxurious  head  of  black, 
kinky  hair,  and  a  pretentious  mustache,  which  were,  in  my 
opinion,  his  most  valuable  assets. 

Juan  Sarabia  was  between  thirty  and  thirty-five  years  of 
age,' and  fairly  well  educated,  was  quite  an  orator,  thoroughly 
disloyal  to  his  country  and  a  violent  agitator,  although  he 
possessed  more  courage  than  any  of  his  associates. 


146  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Munwell  LoPaz,  Manuel  Sarabia  and  Tomaso  Sarabia, 
represented  themselves  as  important  factors  in  the  revolution- 
ary movement.  They  pretended  to  hold  official  positions  of 
great  importance  in  the  junta,  when,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
importance  of  their  positions  in  the  junta  would  compare  favor- 
ably with  that  of  a  bellboy  in  a  first-class  hotel  to  that  of  the 
manager,  who  was  Magon. 

Magon,  Villerreal  and  Rivera  were  finally  extradited  to 
Tombstone,  Arizona,  where  they  were  tried  in  the  United 
States  court,  convicted  and  sentenced  to  the  Arizona  state 
prison  at  Yuma  for  a  term  of  eighteen  months  each  for  having 
violated  the  United  States  neutrality  laws,  by  having  organized 
an  armed  body  of  revolutionists  at  Douglas,  Ariz.,  from  where 
this  expedition  was  sent  to  the  Cannanea  copper  mines,  in 
Mexico,  about  thirty  miles  from  the  south  border  of  Arizona, 
with  the  intention  of  exterminating  all  Americans  and  other 
foreigners  who  were  employed  in  and  about  the  Cannanea 
mines. 

Fortunately  for  the  foreigners  around  these  mines,  the  Ari- 
zona rangers,  who  were  than  an  active  body,  pursued  this 
mob  of  revolutionists,  but  did  not  overtake  them,  until  they 
had  reached  there  and  began  what  might  have  been  a  mas- 
sacre, but  for  the  timely  appearance  of  the  Arizona  rangers. 
They  put  the  so-called  revolutionists,  but  who  should  have  been 
called  bandits,  to  flight,  capturing  a  fev/  of  the  participants. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  the  Magons,  Villerreal  and 
Rivera,  while  not  taking  an  active  part  in  this  raid,  guided 
their  adherents  from  a  long,  and  what  they  considered  a  safe, 
distance. 

In  my  judgment  the  penalty  for  the  violation  of  the  neu- 
trality laws  of  the  United  States  are  not  as  severe  as  they 
should  be. 


RUNNING  DOWN  THE  REVOLUTIONISTS.       147 

Just  as  soon  as  these  men  had  served  their  time  out  and  were 
released  (within  two  months)  they  had  reorganized  and  started 
the  rebelhon  in  Mexico,  that  finally  resulted  in  the  overthrow 
of  President  Diaz's  administration-  However,  this  was  not  ac- 
complished by  Magon  or  his  followers.  It  was  accomplished  by 
parties  who  Vv^ere  enemies  of  the  Magon  faction.  They  quietly 
organized  and  stepped  in  at  the  opportune  time  to  reap  the 
benefit  of  the  turmoil,  disruption  and  dissension  that  had  been 
created  by  the  Magon  faction.  This  faction  was  headed  by 
Madero,  who  had  financial  means  and  a  somewhat  better 
class  of  followers  than  Magon. 

Madero's  victory  over  the  federal  army  w^as  a  comparatively 
easy  one,  as  the  government  army  had  become  completely 
honey-combed  with  disloyalty.  When  President  Diaz  became 
aware  of  existing  conditions  there  was  nothing  left  for  him 
to  do  but  leave  his  country  to  save  his  life. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  newly  formed  administration  of 
Madero  will  bring  peace  and  prosperity  to  the  people  of 
Mexico.  However,  at  the  present  time,  the  writer  has  some 
doubts  as  to  the  fulfillment  of  this  hope. 

While  the  arrest  and  capture  of  Ricardo  Flores  Magon 
and  his  associates  at  Los  Angeles,  California,  on  the  23rd  of 
August,  1907,  may  not  interest  the  American  reader  very  much, 
I  want  to  say  that  by  reason  of  the  shrewdness  of  Ricardo 
]\Iagon  and  the  secrecy  that  he  engendered  into  his  followers, 
the  fact  that  none  of  them  spoke  English,  and  each  and  every 
one  of  them  had  many  aliases,  and  did  all  of  their  important 
corresponding  in  various  systems  of  cipher,  and  the  further 
fact  that  the  Magon  brothers  continually  kept  their  Mexican 
followers  from  getting  to  know  them  personally,  and  from 
the  secret  methods  employed  by  them  on  all  occasions,  I 
consider  the  final  location  and  capture  of  these  parties,  under 


148  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

all  of  the  foregoing  circumstances,  the  most  difficult,  as  well 
as  one  of  the  most  important,  cases  I  have  ever  handled. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  after  these  people  had  been  arrested 
and  had  had  various  hearings  in  the  courts  of  Los  Angeles 
while  they  were  fighting  extradition  to  Arizona,  the  officers  of 
this  country,  as  well  as  of  Mexico,  had  the  opportunity  of  be- 
coming acquainted  with  their  faces  and  their  methods,  and, 
therefore,  before  they  were  extradited  from  Los  Angeles, 
many  of  the  police  officers  and  others  in  that  city  and  all 
along  the  Mexican  border  would  tell  people  all  about  Magon 
and  his  followers,  and  have  been  known  to  say  that  they  knew 
all  about  them  and  their  methods ;  that  their  capture  had  been 
a  very  easy  proposition,  and  that  had  I  not  succeeded  in 
capturing  them  just  when  I  did  that  they  were  about  to  have 
i^iade  the  capture  themselves,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  these 
officers  did  not  have  the  slightest  idea  as  to  the  whereabouts 
of  this  party,  nor  were  any  of  these  people  known  to  any  of 
the  officers  on  either  side  of  the  line,  nor  their  methods,  until 
after  the  capture  and  the  subsequent  development  in  the 
courts. 


A  DALLAS  MURDER  AVENGED. 

PROMPT   ARREST  AND   CONVICTION   OF  THE   MURDERER  AND   SUI- 
CIDE  OF  THE   INSTIGATOR  OF  THE   CRIME 
WHILE   AWAITING  TRIAL. 

Early  in  the  '90s,  I  received  ,a  telegram  from  James  Ar- 
nold, Chief  of  Police  of  Dallas,  Texas,  and  Ben  Cabel, 
County  Sheriff  of  Dallas,  requesting  me  to  come  to  Dallas 
immediately  for  consultation  in  a  murder  case.  Knowing 
both  gentlemen  well,  having  done  business  with  them  be- 
fore, I  answered  that  I  would  start  for  Dallas  the  following 
dav,  which  I  did. 


A  DALLAS  MURDER  AVENGED.  149 

I  arrived  in  Dallas  late  on  Wednesday  evening.  I  found 
Chief  Arnold  and  Sheriff  Cabel  waiting  for  me  at  the  de- 
pot. We  went  to  my  hotel  immediately  where  we  could 
have  a  quiet  conference.  For  obvious  reasons  I  will  not 
give  the  true  names  of  the  principals  connected  with  this 
dastardly  crime,  but  will  state  the  actual  facts  which  led 
to  the  arrest  and  conviction  of  the  murderer,  .and  to  the 
suicide  of  the  real  principal. 

The  Chief  and  Sheriff  told  me  the  nature  of  the  case  for 
which  I  had  been  summoned.  They  said  that  on  Sunday 
night,  preceding,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Dallas  (whom  I 
will  call  Temple)  had  boarded  a  heavily  loaded  electric 
car,  downtown,  in  front  of  one  of  the  principal  churches, 
for  his  home.  The  car  had  at  least  forty  or  fifty  passen- 
gers, most  of  whom  were  returning  home  from  the  evening 
services,  which  Temple  had  attended.  Temple  lived  on  the 
outer  edge  of  the  city  in  the  better  residence  portion.  When 
the  car  reached  his  home  he  got  off  and  started  towards 
his  front  gate.  There  were  a  number  of  shade  trees  in 
front  of  his  home ;  the  street  at  this  point  was  well  lighted 
by  arc  lights,  one  of  which  was  suspended  above  the  point 
where  he  had  left  the  car.  As  he  stepped  from  the  street 
to  the  edge  of  the  side-walk,  a  colored  man,  who  had  been 
concealed  behind  a  shade  tree,  sprang  out  and  was  seen 
by  a  number  of  passengers  who  were  on  the  rear  end  of 
the  car  to  strike  Temple  a  powerful  blow  on  the  head 
with  something  like  a  baseball  bat.  After  striking  the 
blow,  the  negro  dropped  his  weapon  and  his  hat,  and  fled 
into  an  alley,  disappearing  in  the  darkness.  The  people 
who  had  witnessed  the  assault,  hastened  to  Temple,  who 
lay  unconscious  on  the  sidewalk,  picked  him  up  and  car- 
ried him  into  his  house.  Doctors  were  summoned,  and 
found  that  Temple's  head  had  been  split  from  the  crown 


150  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

to  the  level  of  the  eyes.  He  was  still  breathing,  but  only 
lived  a  few  moments,  never  regaining  consciousness.  The 
Chief  and  Sheriff  were  sent  for  and  found  that  the  weapon 
was  a  piece  of  iJ/^-inch  gas  pipe,  near  four  feet  long.  The 
blow  was  so  powerful  that  it  bent  the  pipe,  midway,  to  al- 
most an  L-shape.  They  also  found  the  hat,  which  the  mur- 
derer dropped,  to  be  a  new,  cheap,  broad-brimmed,  black 
hat  and  was  of  unusually  large  size.  It  was  too  large  for 
any  ordinary  sized  head  and  indicated  to  me  that  it  was 
probably  too  large  for  the  man  who  had  worn  it,  and  for 
that  reason  had  fallen  off  with  the  first  violent  move  the 
wearer  had  made.  The  witnesses  to  the  crime  had  all  had 
a  plain  view  of  the  slayer,  and  described  him  as  a  young  ne- 
gro, very  black,  about  five  feet  eight  inches  tall,  well  built, 
and  apparently  well  dressed.  They  all  agreed  that  he  had 
the  features  of  a  white  man,  thin  lips,  straight  nose  and 
regular  features.  In  fact,  a  number  believed  him  to  be  a 
white  man  who  had  blackened  his  face. 

During  our  conference  I  learned  that  Temple  had  a 
brother,  who  was  a  prominent  physician,  and  who  lived  in 
Springfield,  Illinois.  He  had  been  sent  for  by  his  sister-in- 
law,  arriving  in  Dallas  on  Tuesday.  The  doctor  was  anx- 
ious to  have  his  brother's  assassin  brought  to  justice,  if 
possible,  and  had  asked  them  to  recommend  a  detective  to 
him  for  that  purpose,  so  they  had  wired  me  to  come  on  to 
Dallas.  It  was  midnight  by  this  time,  and  I  was  tired. 
After  making  an  appointment  with  Sheriff  Cabel  to  accom- 
pany him  to  the  scene  of  the  murder  the  next  morning,  I 
retired. 

Next  morning  Chief  Arnold,  Sheriff  Cabel  and  I  went 
over  the  ground.  I  examined  the  hat  and  the  piece  of  pipe, 
which  the  murderer  had  used,  and  I  noticed  that  this  pipe 
was  new  and  had  been  cut  from  the  end  of  a  long  joint. 


A  DALLAS  MURDER  AVENGED.  151 

It  was  evident  to  me  that  it  had  been  cut  to  the  proper 
length  so  that  he  (the  assassin)  could  conceal  it  in  carrying 
it  to  the  place  of  the  murder.  I  then  began  my  investiga- 
tions. 

There  was  a  large  colony  of  negroes  in  Dallas,  as  in  other 
Texas  towns,  but  no  one  seemed  to  know  a  colored  man 
who  had  a  white  man's  features.  All  the  witnesses  agreed 
that  they  had  never  seen  any  one  who  looked  like  the  mur- 
derer before.  It  was,  of  course,  necessary  for  me  to  dis- 
cover the  motive  for  the  murder,  since  in  all  crimes  of  this 
character  there  is  a  motive. 

I  found  that  Mr.  Temple  had  been  superintendent  of  a 
Sunday  School.  He  was  also  in  the  wholesale  lumber  busi- 
ness, and  was  associated  with  two  parties  in  the  business. 
One  of  them  I  will  call  Smith  and  the  other  Perry.  When 
the  partnership  had  been  formed  they  agreed  to  take  out  a 
ten  thousand  dollar  life  insurance  policy  on  each  other's 
life,  and  to  carry  these  policies  on  the  company  funds.  I 
learned  that  Temple  had  incurred  the  enmity  of  a  number 
of  citizens;  among  them  was  .a  brother-in-law,  vi^ho  at  one 
time  had  been  heard  to  threaten  his  life.  Temple  had  had 
some  lij;igation  with  a  saw-mill  proprietor  who  lived  in 
east  Texas.  This  litigation  involved  about  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  and  had  been  in  court  for  several  years.  Finally 
a  decision  had  been  rendered  in  favor  of  Temple,  a  short 
time  prior  to  his  murder.  The  saw-mill  proprietor  of  east 
Texas  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  good  citizen,  honor- 
able and  reliable  in  business,  but  had  killed  two  or  more 
people,  for  which  he  had  been  exonerated  by  the  courts. 
From  the  above  the  reader  can  understand  that  I  had  al- 
ready discovered  what  might  prove  to  be  several  "motives" 
for  the  crime. 


152  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

At  noon  on  the  second  da}-  after  my  arrival  at  Dallas.  1 
had  eaten  my  dinner  and  walked  out  of  the  Grand  Windsor 
Hotel,  where  I  was  stopping,  to  the  corner  in  front  of  the 
hotel,  where  I  stopped  for  a  moment,  as  I  was  undecided 
whether  to  go  up  or  down  the  street  first,  there  being  peo- 
ple in  both  directions  whom  I  wished  to  see-  It  was  rain- 
ing. There  was  a  fine-looking  young  woman  coming  across 
the  street  towards  me.  As  she  approached  I  noticed  that 
she  was  a  colored  girl,  but  .about  as  white  as  myself.  Her  hair 
was  kinky  and  of  a  deep  reddish  color-  Her  eyes  were  large 
and  blue.  She  w^as  tall,  well  dressed,  but  had  large  brown 
freckles  about  the  size  of  a  little  finger  nail.  Her  carriage 
was  graceful,  and  were  it  not  for  the  freckles  and  kinky 
hair  she  would  have  been  called  a  beauty.  Her  graceful 
movements  attracted  my  attention,  and  as  I  looked  at  her  a 
hand  was  laid  on  my  shoulder.  On  looking  around  I  be- 
held Doctor  Temple.  He  said  in  an  undertone,  "What  do 
you  think  of  her?" 

I  said,  "She  is  a  freak  of  nature." 

He  answered,  "Yes,  she  is  a  freak  of  nature.  I  noticed 
her  yesterday  in  that  building  where  my  brother  had  his 
office.  She  appeared  to  be  having  an  earnest  conversation 
with  the  janitor."  After  a  few  other  remarks  the  doctor  left 
me  and  I  concluded  to  go  and  see  a  party  that  I  thought 
could  give  me  some  information.  I  could  not  get  that 
colored  girl  out  of  my  mind,  and  before  I  had  gone  a 
block  I  decided  that  I  would  go  and  find  out  who  she 
was,  and  what  her  business  was  with  the  janitor  of  the 
building  where  the  lumberman  had  had  his  office.  I  knew 
that  Sherifif  Cabel  would  know  who  this  girl  was,  as  he 
knew  every  one  in  Dallas.  I  turned  around  and  went  back 
to  the  court  house,  where  I  found  the  sherifif  and  said, 
"Sheriff,   I   saw   a  colored   girl   near  the  hotel   a   short  time 


A  DALLAS  A/IURDER  AVENGED.  153 

ago  (here  I  described  her)  and  I  would  like  to  know  who 
she  is  and  something  about  her." 

The  sheriff  said,  "That  girl  is  known  as  Liza  Johnson. 
You  know  Emma  Johnson.  She's  the  daughter  of  an  old 
colored  woman  who  lived  for  many  years  with  Emma  John- 
son, Her  mother  died  when  she  was  a  child  and  Emma 
raised  her  like  her  own  daughter.  She's  a  good  girl  and 
Emma  thinks  a  great  deal  of  her;  Emma  can  tell  you  all 
about  her,  and  I  will  take  you  over  to  Emma's  if  you  want 
me  to,"    This  he  did. 

We  called  on  Miss  Johnson,  and  the  sheriff  introduced 
me,  and  told  her  I  was  a  friend  of  his,  asking  her  to  treat 
me  accordingly,  to  which  she  assented. 

I  said,  "I  \Yant  to  know  something  about  your  maid,  Liza. 
I  understand  that  she  has  been  seen  in  an  office  build- 
ing over  on  Commerce  St.  and  I  am  anxious  to  learn  what 
business  took  her  to  that  building." 

She  replied,  "Why,  I  don't  really  know,  but  I  reckon  1 
can  find  out.  About  a  month  ago  the  negroes  here  in  Dal- 
las had  a  picnic  and  Liza  went  to  that  picnic.  She  met  a 
young  negro  there  and  he  brought  her  home.  I  saw  him, 
and  he  was  good  looking,  well  dressed,  and  appeared  to 
be  fairly  well  educated.  He  w^as  black  as  ink  though,  but 
had  good  features,  like  those  of  a  white  man.  He  had  thin 
lips,  small  mouth  and, a  straight  nose.  If  he  had  been  a 
white  man  he'd  have  been  good  looking."  This  was  an  exact 
description  of  the  slayer  of  Mr.  Temple,  Continuing,  she 
said,  "He  came  here  from  some  place  down  in  the  state. 
He  is  a  stranger  here  and  don't  mix  with  the  other  colored 
people.  He's  acting  as  a  sort  of  body-servant  to  his  master, 
who  has  an  office  in  that  building  on  Commerce  St." 

I  then  asked,  "What  is  his  name?" 


154  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

She  replied,  "His  first  name  is  John,  and  his  last  name 
is  the  same  as  his  master's.     I  can't  recall  it." 

"Was  his  master's  name  Perry?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  "That's  it,  John  Perry.  But 
John  is  not  in  town  now.  He  left  town  last  Monday.  He 
came  over  and  saw  Liza,  and  told  her  he  was  going  to  San 
Antonio  to  attend  the  races  there  this  week.  He  writes 
her  every  day,  though,  and  she  got  a  letter  from  him  this 
morning." 

I  asked  her  if  she  could  let  me  see  the  letter  without 
Liza's  knowledge.  She  said,  "Oh,  yes,  I'll  send  Liza  over 
to  the  drug  store  on  an  errand  and  I  can  get  it  then  be- 
fore she  returns." 

She  sent  Liza  to  the  drug  store,  and  got  the  letter  and 
gave  it  to  me.  It  was  in  the  envelope  and  had  been  mailed 
the  day  before  at  San  An — the  balance  of  the  word  not  ap- 
pearing, because  the  mailing  stamp  had  not  touched  the 
paper.  I  believe  it  to  be  San  Antonio,  since  he  was  sup- 
posed to  be  there. 

Upon  receiving  this  information  I  asked  Miss  Johnson 
to  treat  my  visit  in  confidence,  which  she  promised  to  do. 
I  then  located  a  plumbing  shop  where  I  found  the  proprie- 
tor and  his  brother,  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  who  at 
once  recognized  the  piece  of  pipe,  which  he  said  he  had  cut 
from  a  large  joint  for  a  negro  the  Friday  before  the  mur- 
der. He  described  the  negro  fully  as  Miss  Johnson  and 
others  had  done,  and  said  he  could  identify  him  any  place  on 
sight.  I  immediately  arranged  with  the  elder  plumber  for 
his  brother  to  accompany  me  to  San  Antonio  at  my  ex- 
pense, with  the  understanding  that  I  was  to  pay  him  for 
his  time.  The  bo_v  put  on  his  best  clothes  and  we  left  Dal- 
las that  night  for  San  Antonio,  arriving  there  next  morn- 
ing.   We  v/ent  to  the  Menger  Hotel,  and  while  at  breakfast 


A  DALLAS  MURDER  AVENGED.  155 

the  hotel  clerk  brought  me  a  telegram  from  Sheriff  Cabel, 
of  Dallas,  reading  as  follows : 

"Go  to  San  Angelo,  Texas,  at  once." 

Before  leaving  Dallas  I  had  arranged  with  the  sheriff 
and  Miss  Johnson  to  examine  all  letters  received  by  Liza. 
On  the  morning  of  my  arrival  at  San  Antonio  Liza  received 
a  letter  from  the  San  Angelo  postofifice  with  the  postmark 
plainly  stamped  upon  it.  I  took  the  first  train  for  San  An- 
gelo, which  left  that  evening.  We  arrived  at  San  Angelo 
next  morning,  Sunday. 

San  Angelo  was,  at  the  time,  a  small  cattle  shipping 
town,  and  within  an  hour  after  our  arrival  I  learned  that 
the  negro,  John  Perry,  had  left  San  Angelo  on  Saturday 
evening,  with  a  ticket  to  Lampasas,  Texas.  I  also  learned 
that  I  could  not  leave  for  Lampasas  until  Sunday  evening, 
as  there  was  only  one  daily  train  each  day.  Sunday  even- 
ing we  left  for  Lampasas,  where  we  arrived  about  8:00 
a.  m.  Monday  morning.  Lampasas  was  the  county  seat 
and  it  was  court  week.  The  town  was  filled  to  overflow- 
ing by  reason  of  the  court.  The  depot  was  about  one-half 
mile  from  the  postoffice  in  the  center  of  the  city.  Getting 
off  the  train  the  boy  and  myself  walked  over  to  the  hotel, 
and  as  we  neared  the  postoffice  we  noticed  a  large  crowd 
around  it  evidently  waiting  for  mail.  The  boy  from  Dallas 
called  my  attention  to  a  colored  man,  who  was  wearing  a 
light  Fedora  hat,  with  a  blue  serge  suit,  and  was  well 
dressed.  He  stood  away  from  the  crowd  near  the  postoffice, 
evidently  waiting  for  mail.  The  boy  pointed  to  him  and 
said,  "That's  the  nigger  that  I  sold  that  piece  of  pipe  to." 

We  were  in  front  of  the  store  when  he  recognized  John 
Perry,  whom  it  proved  to  be.  I  told  the  boy  to  stay  right 
there  until  I  had  captured  tlTe  negro.  He  could  then  quiet- 
ly follow  us  to  the  jail  unobserved.     I  went  over  near  the 


156  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

place  where  the  negro  stood  and  concluded  that  I  would 
wait  until  he  had  received  mail,  which  he  was  evidently 
expecting.  In  a  few  moments  the  negroes  formed  a  line  to 
the  window  where  they  received  their  mail.  In  a  short 
time  John  reached  the  window  and  received  a  letter.  He 
left  the  line  and  walked  around  the  corner  of  the  building, 
opened  the  letter  and  took  from  it  a  couple  of  bank  notes, 
hastily  placed  them  in  his  vest  pocket  and  proceeded  to 
read  the  letter,  which  was  written  in  lead  pencil.  Mean- 
while, I  had  gotten  within  reach  of  him  without  being  no- 
ticed by  him  or  any  one  else,  when  I  suddenly  threw  a  41- 
calibre  Colt  revolver  into  his  face,  commanding  him  to  throw 
up  his  hands.  To  ni}^  surprise  he  suddenly  "plunged  his 
hand  inside  the  waist  of  his  trousers  and  attempted  to  draw 
a  nine-inch  barrel,  45-calibre  Colts,  concealed  under  his 
vest.  Before  he  could  draw  it  I  seized  his  hand  and  his  re- 
volver and  commanded  him  in  forcible  tone  to  desist.  The 
moment  I  leveled  my  revolver  on  him  the  crowd's  atten- 
tion was  attracted.  One  of  them,  who  was  standing  very 
close,  was  about  six  feet  tall,  and  really  the  thinnest  look- 
ing individual  I  had  ever  seen.  He  wore  a  hat  with  a  very 
wide  brim,  making  him  look  much  thinner.  He  promptly 
threw  a  45  Colt  on  both  of  us,  and  with  a  voice  as  shrill  as 
a  wild  goose,  yelled,  "Heah,  heah,  I  am  the  sheriff  of  this 
county  and  I  command  peace." 

To  which  I  replied,  "Mr.  Sheriff,  take  hold  of  this  ne- 
gro. I'm  an  officer  from  Dallas  and  have  arrested  him  for 
murdering  a  white  man  there." 

The  sheriff  grabbed  one  side  and  I  the  other,  and  we 
started  for  the  jail,  nearby.  The  crowd  hearing  that  I  had 
arrested  him  for  the  murder  of  a  white  man.  talked  of 
lynching,  but  the  sheriff,  whom  they  knew  and  respected, 
told  them  that  the  prisoner  should  be  dealt  with  by  law, 


A  DALLAS  MURDER  AVENGED.  157 

and  that  he  intended  to  protect  him.  We  took  him  to  jail, 
where  I  searched  him.  I  took  from  him  the  letter  which 
he  had  jitst  received,  and  which  he  tried  to  tear  in  pieces. 
I  also  took  the  two  bank  notes  which  he  had  received  in  the 
letter.  They  proved  to  be  two  treasury  notes.  I  placed 
the  fragments  of  the  letter  together,  which  had  been  mailed 
from  Dallas  and  which  read  about  as  follows : 

"I  enclose  you  one  hundred  dollars,  on  receipt  of  which 
you  must  go  quietly  and  at  once  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  I 
will  join  you  there.  Detectives  are  on  to  us,  and  you  must 
not  let  them  catch  you.  It  would  be  fatal."  (Signed) 
John  Perry. 

I  took  everything  of  a  metallic  nature  from  him,  and 
had  the  sheriff  lock  him  up  in  a  cell,  as  I  knew  he  would 
be  compelled  to  remain  in  Lampasas  for  twenty-four 
hours,  until  we  could  get  a  train  for  Dallas. 

By  the  time  he  was  searched  and  locked  up  it  was  nearly 
the  dinner  hour,  and  I  instructed  the  sheriff  to  feed  the 
prisoner,  but  not  to  allow  him  a  knife  or  any  article  with 
which  he  could  do  himself  bodily  harm.  I  explained  to 
him  that  it  was  very  important  that  I  get  the  prisoner 
back  to  Dallas  safely,  as  we  wanted  to  get  a  statement  from 
him  as  to  why  he  had  killed  Temple. 

I  had  just  gone  into  the  dining  room  to  get  something 
to  eat,  when  a  deputy  sheriff  rushed  into  the  room  and 
called  my  name,  to  which  I  answered.  He  said  excitedly, 
"Come  to  the  jail  at  once.  That  nigger  of  yours  has  cut 
his  damned  head  nearly  off." 

The  hotel  was  just  opposite  the  jail  and  it  took  only  a 
short  time  to  get  there  .  I  found  the  jailor,  on  discovering 
what  the  prisoner  had  done,  had  pulled  him  out  of  the  cell 
into  the  corridor,  where  he  was  lying  on  the  iron  floor,  with 
his  throat  cut  almost  from  ear  to  ear.     In  the  cutting  he 


158  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

had  not  severed  the  jugular  vein,  but  had  cut  the  wind  pipe. 
It  was.  a  tremendous  gash.  He  could  breathe  fairly  well, 
and  could  speak,  but  with  difficulty. 

Meanwhile  the  sheriff  had  summoned  an  old  doctor, 
who  arrived  at  the  jail  shortly.  He  looked  at  the  prisoner 
and  said,  "Why,  that  nigger  will  die.  I  can't  do  a  thing 
for  him,"  and  he  positively  refused  to  do  anything.  I 
pleaded  with  him  to  sew  up  the  wound  and  save  the  life, 
as  it  was  of  great  importance  to  the  people  of  Dallas.  It 
was  all  in  vain.  We  finally  succeeded  in  getting  a  young 
doctor  of  the  town,  who  came  and  tenderly  dressed  the 
wound,  and  stated  that  with  proper  care  the  negro  would 
live.  I  assisted  the  doctor  all  that  I  could,  and  stayed 
there  with  him  from  that  time  until  we  left  Lampasas  the 
next  morning.    I  had  my  meals  brought  to  the  jail  to  me. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  after  the  wound  was 
dressed,  Perry  began  to  feel  better,  and  I  presume,  by  rea- 
son of  my  kind  treatment  of  him  he  told  me  that  his  young 
master,  John  Perry,  had  induced  him  to  come  to  Dallas 
for  the  purpose  of  killing  his  partner,  Mr.  Temple;  that  he 
(his  master)  had  paid  his  expenses  and  had  been  liberal 
in  furnishing  him  with  spending  money,  also  that  he  was 
to  give  him  five  hundred  dollars  after  he  had  killed  Temple. 
He  said  he  did  not  want  to  do  it,  and  tried  to  get  out  of  it 
after  he  had  reached  Dallas,  but  his  master  threatened  to 
kill  him  unless  he  did  so.  He  said  he  killed  Temple  be- 
cause he  feared  his  master  would  kilKhim.  He  said  that  on 
the  Sunday  night  previous  to  the  murder  he  was  about  to 
pounce  upon  another  man  of  Temple's  congregation.  This 
man  resembled  Temple  so  much  that  he  was  about  to  kill 
him  for  Temple,  and  would  have  done  so  but  for  the  fact 
that  his  master  was  in  hiding  across  the  street  and  rushed 
out  and  prevented  his  making  a  mistake.    He  also  confessed 


A  DALLAS  MURDER  AVENGED.  159 

that  he  had  received  a  telegram  on  the  day  that  he  had  left 
San  Angelo,  telling  him  to  go  to  Lampasas  and  call  at  the 
post-office  for  a  letter,  which  was  the  letter  mentioned 
above. 

Whereupon,  I  wrote  a  telegram  to  Sheriff  Catel,  which 
read  as  follows :  "Negro  has  cut  his  throat  and  is  dying. 
Give  this  message  to  the  newspapers  and  have  them  get 
out  an  extra  at  once,  without  fail.  Will  wire  you  ex- 
planation two  hours  later.*' 

I  sent  this  message  to  the  telegraph  office  by  the  plumber 
boy. 

After  I  had  decided  to  leave  Dallas  to  arrest  Perry,  I 
wired  a  code  message  to  one  of  my  operatives,  D.  F.  Har- 
baugh,  to  come  to  Dallas  on  the  first  train  and  call  for  a 
letter  of  instructions  that  I  left  for  him  at  my  hotel.  This 
letter  was  to  the  effect  that  he  should  carefully  shadow 
the  white  man,  John  Perry,  as  soon  as  he  arrived  at  Dallas, 
and  keep  him  under  continuous  surveillance  until  further 
orders. 

Harbaugh  arrived  at  Dallas  on  Saturday  and  began 
shadowing  Perry  according  to  instructions.  As  soon  as 
Cabel  received  my  first  message  he  called  up  the  news- 
papers and  they  got  out  an  extra  at  once.  The  white  John 
Perry  got  one  of  the  first  extras.  He  read  the  account  of 
the  colored  man  having  killed  himself,  and  at  once  left  his^ 
office  and  started  for  his  lodgings,  about  a  mile  away.  On 
his  way  he  stopped  at  every  saloon  en  route  (they  numbered 
thirteen  in  all)  and  took  a  large  drink  at  each  place.  By 
the  time  he  reached  home  he  had  taken  at  least  thirteen 
drinks. 

Two  hours  after  sending  the  first  message.  I  sent  Sheriff 
Cabel  a  second  one,  which  read  as  follows: 

"Negro  doing  well ;  will  recover.     Leave  here  on  morn- 


160  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

ing  train  for  Dallas.  Treat  this  confidentially  and  meet 
me  at  Temple  tomorrow  morning.  Arrest  John  Perry  on 
charge  of  complicity  in  Temple  murder.  Have  full  con- 
fession of  negro  which  justifies  this  action." 

Sherifif  Cabel  did  as  directed,  and  met  me  at  Temple  the 
following  morning-,  where  we  had  to  change  cars  for  Dal- 
las. We  arrived  in  Dallas  about  8:00  P.  M.  Tuesday,  and 
during  the  long  journey  from  Lampasas  to  Dallas  the 
jolting  of  the  cars,  etc.,  caused  the  negro's  wound  to  be- 
come inflamed,  and  he  was  suffering  greatly  when  we 
reached  Dallas.  The  sheriff  had  telegraphed  ahead  for  a 
physician  to  await  us  at  the  jail.  The  negro  was  placed  on 
a  cot  in  the  corridor  where  the  doctor  could  redress  his 
wound.  While  the  doctor  was  so  engaged  the  master, 
John  Perry,  who  was  a  prisoner  in  one  of  the  cells  on  the 
upper  floor  of  the  jail,  could  plainly  see  all  that  was  going 
on  below.  Pie  recognized  the  negro  and  immediately  at- 
tempted to  kill  himself  by  butting  his  head  against  the 
steel  bars  of  his  cell.  The  sheriff"  and  his  assistants  and 
myself  were  attracted  b}'  the  actions  of  the  white  man, 
and  at  once  rushed  to  the  cell.  Here  we  found  that  the 
white  prisoner  had  almost  beaten  out  his  brains  against 
the  bars  of  his  cell.  Medical  aid  was  called  and  a  guard 
placed  inside  the  cell  with  him  to  prevent  any  further 
personal  violence. 

The  following  day  the  papers  were  full  of  what  had  oc- 
curred, and  owing  to  the  high  standing  of  Perry,  the  jail 
v/as  flooded  with  sympathizers,  among  whom  were  many 
leading  citizens.  Telegrams  from  all  parts  of  the  state, 
from  influential  people,  poured  in,  tendering  the  prisoner 
all  sorts  of  aid,  financially  and  otherwise.  An  able  cou.\- 
sel  volunteered  to  defend  him,  and  society  ladies  began  to 
send  him  luncheons  and  delicacies  of  all  kinds. 


A  DALLAS  MURDER  AVENGED.  161 

The  prisoner  had  offered  as  an  excuse  for  trying  to  com- 
mit suicide  that  he  felt  so  humiliated  by  being  charged 
with  murdering  his  partner.  He  declared  that  he  was  in- 
nocent and  that  he  would  be  exonerated  in  court ;  which  I 
have  no  doubt  he  would,  as  the  main  proof  against  him 
was  the  testimony  of  a  negro,  which  does  not  usually  go 
very  far  in  court  in  the  south  when  it  cannot  be  strongly 
corroborated. 

The  colored  prisoner  continued  to  improve,  and  ihe 
white  man  seemed  to  get  along  nicely  for  about  five  days, 
when  a  young  society  woman  sent  him  a  luncheon,  in 
which  was  a  cut  glass  plate  containing  delicacies.  While 
he  was  eating  this  lunch,  and  the  guard  was  at  the  far  end 
of  the  cell  Perry  suddenly  struck  the  plate  on  the  steel 
floor  of  the  cell,  breaking  it  into  pieces.  He  picked  up  a 
large,  triangular-shaped  piece  of  glass,  with  edges  as  sharp 
as  a  razor,  and  plunged  it  into  his  throat,  at  the  same 
time  giving  the  piece  of  glass  a  twist,  which  severed  the 
jugular  vein,  causing  his  death  in  a  few  minutes.  Thus 
ended  the  existence  of  the  white  John  Perry. 

The  colored  man  pleaded  guilty  at  his  trial,  and  was 
sentenced  to  the  state  prison  for  life,  where,  I  presume,  he 
is  at  the  present  time. 

I  omitted  to  state  that  after  I  had  searched  the  colored 
John  Perry  at  Lampasas,  and  had  instructed  the  sheriff 
and  jailor  not  to  allow  him  to  have  a  knife  or  anything  of 
the  kind  Vv'ith  his  meal,  Perry  had  called  the  jailor  and 
told  him  that  he  had  gotten  a  sliver  in  his  finger,  and  asked 
the  jailor  to  lend  him  his  knife  to  remove  the  sliver.  The 
old  jailor,  having  evidently  forgotten  my  instructions, 
gave  the  prisoner  his  pocket  knife,  through  the  bars.  As 
he  stepped  back  from  the  bars  Perry  opened  the  knife  and 
cut  his  throat  before  the  jailor  could  get  into  the  cell  to 


162  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

prevent  it.  The  skin  on  that  darky's  neck  was  as  thick  as 
ordinary  sole  leather  and  very  tough.  I  held  him  while  the 
doctor  sewed  up  the  w^ound,  which  was  a  hard  job,  but  per- 
formed very  nicely. 

I  arrived  in  Dallas  on  Wednesday  night,  made  the  fore- 
going investigation,  located  and  arrested  Perry,  caused  the 
arrest  of  the  white  John  Perry,  left  Dallas  and  returned  to 
St.  Louis,  arriving  there  on  Friday  evening  of  the  follow- 
ing week,  after  having  traveled  nearly  four  thousand  miles, 
which  I  believe  to  be  the  quickest  time  ever  made  in 
working  up  a  case  and  capturing  the  guilty  parties  in  a 
crime  of  this  magjiitude. 

I  can  say  that  I  have  never  doubted  but  that  it  was  a 
case  of  remorse  that  caused  the  white  John  Perry  to  com- 
mit suicide,  and  not  humiliation. 


THE  TOUGHEST  OF  TOUGH  TOWNS. 

EAST    ST.     LOUIS    IN    THE    EARLY    EIGHTY'S — HOW    I    HELPED    TO 
REFORM  THE  MUNICIPALITY A  SPECTACULAR  RAID 

ON    "sure    thing"    games    and 
"big  mitt"  joints. 

Dodge  City,  Kansas,  and  Corinne,  Utah,  have  places  in  his- 
tory for  being  tough  towns  in  their  infancy,  but  take  it  from 
me,  Mr.  Reader,  that  neither  of  these  much-advertised  burgs, 
in  their  palmiest  days,  were  "in  the  running"  for  toughness 
with  East  St.  Louis  during  the  early  '80s.  The  average 
St.  Louisan,  in  those  days,  was  entirely  different  in  his  make- 
up from  the  denizens  of  the  cities  further  west,  especially  if 
he  was  in  politics,  his  nature  being  more  bloodthirsty 
than  the  bandit,  or  tough  cowboy  or  buffalo  skinner,  who 
made  the  first  named  towns  famous.  It  was  a  different  sort  ot 


THE  TOUGHEST  OF  TOUGH  TOWNS.  163 

crookedness  in  East  St-  Louis.  The  little  municipality  was  in 
the  hands  of  crooks  of  the  lowest  degree.  There  was  no  crime 
to  which  they  would  not  resort  to  gain  a  point  of  advantage 
over  a  rival.  In  other  words,  any  crime  was  regarded  as  con- 
ventional, just  so  the  man  who  committed  it  got  the  "ma- 
zuma."  The  principal  city  offices  were  held  by  gamblers 
and  "sure-thing"  men.  The  city  councilmen  were  nearly  all 
saloon  or  dive  keepers,  while  the  police  department 
was  recognized  as  the  grandest  collection  of  thugs, 
crooks  and  "strong-armers"  that  had  ever  been  as- 
sembled together  within  ^he  borders  of  one  town. 
The  fact  that  these  alleged  minions  of  the  law 
were  recognized  as  suspicious  characters  by  the  officers  of 
other  cities,  and  were  shadowed  whenever  found  out  of  their 
own  bailiwick  seemed  to  be  regarded  as  a  good  point  in  their 
favor  by  those  responsible  for  their  being — the  mayor  and 
Board  of  Aldermen.  Any  crook,  big  or  little,  if  he^had  the 
price  for  protection,  could  ply  his  chosen  profession  on  the 
main  streets  of  the  town  without  molestation  on  the  part  of 
those  sworn  to  enforce  the  law.  A  "peterman"  (safe  blower) 
was  held  in  higher  esteem  over  there  in  those  days  than  a 
priest,  a  "porch-climber"  regarded  as  an  artist,  and  the  monte 
and  confidence  men  placed  in  the  same  class  as  are  college 
professors  and  clergymen  in  othei^  cities,  while  the  taen 
who  received  the  bribes  were  all  looked  upon  as  good  fel- 
lows and  smart,  wide-awake  business  men. 

Neither  were  the  merchants  and  tradesmen  all  straight  in 
those  days.  It  has  been  said  of  some  of  them  that  they  would 
refuse  to  take  money  in  exchange  for  their  wares  when  there 
was  any  suspicion  in  their  minds  that  the  money  had  been 
earned  honestly.  Crooks  of  all  classes  congregated  there, 
because  they  knew  they  were  safe  from  arrest.  If  they  were 
broke  on  their  arrival,  after  l)cing  chased  out  of  another  town, 


164 


FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 


they  knew  tliere  would  be  no  trouble  in  getting  some  dive- 
keeper  or  proprietor  of  a  fence  to  "go  to  the  front"  for  them 
at  poHce  headquarters  and  square  things  so  they  could  "go 
to  work."     It  was  everyday  talk    that    .aldermen    had    "big 


Furlong's  "Full  Hand." 

Cartoon  published  in  a  St.  Louis  newspaper  at  the  time 

of  the  East  St.  Louis  gambling  raid. 

mitt"  men  and  "strong-armers"  out  working  on  percentage. 
As  in  all  such  places,  gambling  flourished — that  is,  gam- 
bling of  the  crooked  kind.     The  whirr  of  the  roulette  bail 
and    the    rattle    of    the    dice   in   the   "bird   cage"   could   be 


THE  TOUGHEST  OF  TOUGH  TOWNS.  165 

heard  on  the  street,  when  not  drowned  out  by  the  voices 
of  the  cappers  for  "the  old  army  game"  (chuck-a-luck)  or 
the  paddle  wheels  or  sweat  board.  Nobody  had  a  chance 
to  win,  however,  except  the  operators  of  the  games,  as 
they  were  all  crooked. 

Many  of  the  merchants  openly  displayed  in  their  shop 
windows  the  tools  and  devices  used  by  the  various  "profes- 
sions." The  bully  could  buy  brass  knucks  with  which  to 
knock  the  block  ofif  of  his  adversary ;  the  hold-up  man  a 
sand  bag  to  stun  his  victim,  while  he  helped  himself  to 
his  valuables ;  the  card  sharper  could  buy  his  "strippers" 
"bug"  or  "harness,"  while  the  safe  blower  could  find  any 
sort  of  "jimmy"  or  any  quantity  of  "soup"  he  desired,  or 
had  the  money  to  pay  for.  Then  there  were  "fences"  where 
a  thief  might  dispose  of  anything  of  value  he  might  "find" 
on  his  excursions  to  the  neighboring  towns,  which  were 
not  infrequent.  The  return  of  one  of  these  marauding 
parties  from  a  tour  Vv^as  always  followed  by  an  orgy,  at 
which  wine  flowed  freely,  and  the  ill-gotten  money  tossed 
about  with  a  lavish  hand. 

East  St.  Louis  was  then  a  wide-open  town,  with  the  ac- 
cent on  the  words  "wide"  and  "open." 

Finally  the  good  people  of  the  town  awoke  to  their  re- 
sponsibilities, as  they  always  do  in  cases  of  this  kind. 
Headed  by  an  ex-mayor,  John  B.  Bowman,  editor  of  a  news- 
paper, a  fight  was  begun  on  the  crooked  officials.  And  it 
was  a  fight,  a  l^ittcr  one.  A  number  of'  aldermen  who  had 
been  under  suspicion  of  being  partially  responsible  for  the 
bad  state  of  afi"airs,  were  beaten  for  re-election,  and  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  get  possession  of  the  city  funds  in  the 
city  treasury,  which  was  in  the  hands  of  Thos.  J.  Canty, 
gang  city  clerk,  who  had  usurped  the  office  of  treasurer. 
After  much  delay,  he  having  resorted  to  the  courts  to  pre- 


166  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

vent  his  being  ousted,  he  was  finally  ordered  to  turn  over 
the  funds  to  the  treasurer  on  the  morning  of  May  21,  1884. 
The  night  before  the  date  set  for  the  transfer,  the  vault  in 
the  City  Hall,  in  which  Canty  claimed  to  have  kept  the 
funds,  was  robbed,  an  entrance  having  been  effected  by 
digging  a  hole  through  the  brick  wall  which  enclosed  the 
safe. 

A  few  months  before  the  robbery,  Mike  Coleman,  alias 
Charlie  Clark,  a  noted  "peterman"  of  that  city,  had  come 
down  to  St.  Louis  from  Jefferson  City,  w^here  he  had  been 
doing  time  for  a  safe-blowing  job  in  Monroe  County,  Mis- 
souri. I  had  known  Coleman  for  years  and  had  been  in- 
strumental in  "settling"  him  on  more  than  one  occasion. 
He  called  upon  me  at  my  office,  w^hich,  at  that  time,  was  in 
the  Allen  Building,  Broadway  and  IMarket  Streets.  "I 
am  through  with  crime,  Mr.  Furlong,"  he  said,  "and  I  have 
secured  a  good  job  with  the  Hamilton-Brown  Shoe  Com- 
pany as  a  cutter,  at  a  salary  which  will  permit  me  to  take 
care  of  my  wife  and  child,  and  I  want  to  know  if  you  will 
allow  me  to  live  in  St.  Louis — that  is,  not  tip  me  off  to  the 
St.  Louis  police,  none  of  whom  know  me." 

I  told  him  I  was  truly  glad  to  hear  of  his  reformation, 
and  that  I  would  not  tell  any  one  of  his  presence  here  as 
long  as  he  continued  to  w^ork  and  behave  himself.  He 
seemed  pleased  to  hear  this,  and  told  me  he  would  not  only 
live  straight  in  the  future,  but  would  "put  me  next"  to  any 
one  he  knew  to  be  crooked  should  they  attempt  to  do  any 
work  in  St.  Louis.  He  further  voluntarily  promised  that 
he  would  report  to  me  at  my  office  every  Saturday  after- 
noon. I  then  introduced  him  to  my  chief  clerk,  Edward 
Da\vson,  and  told  him  to  report  to  Mr.  Dawson  in  case 
I  did  not  happen  to  be  in  the  office  when  he  called. 

We   shook  hands   and   he   took   his   departure.      He   re- 


THE  TOUGHEST  OF  TOUGH  TOWNS.  167 

ported  to  the  office  every  Saturday  promptly  for  about 
three  months,  at  which  time  I  was  called  south  on  a  train 
robbery  case,  and  was  absent  from  St.  Louis  for  several 
weeks.  During  my  absence  an  epidemic  of  safe  robberies 
occurred  in  St.  Louis.  As  many  as  three  "boxes"  were 
opened  in  a  single  night.  One  night  the  "petermen"  would 
operate  in  north  or  south  St.  Louis,  the  next  night  they 
would  be  down  in  the  business  district,  or  out  in  the  west 
end.  The  work  of  the  gang  caused  a  panic  at  police  head- 
quarters. Chief  Harrigan  had  his  men  working  night  and 
day,  and  the  detective  force  was  augumented  by  patrol- 
men in  plain  clothes,  but  still  the  bursting  of  "boxes"  con- 
tinued nightly.  During  my  absence  from  the  city  I  was  en- 
abled to  get  the  St.  Louis  papers  once  in  a  while.  These 
papers  were  full  of  the  accounts  of  the  robberies.  From 
the  description  in  the  papers  of  the  way  the  work  had  been 
done,  I  was  satisfied  that  Coleman  was  either  doing  the 
work  or  directing  it.  Nearly  all  of  the  places  robbed  had 
been  entered  from  above.  I  knew  this  skylight  stunt  was 
one  of  Coleman's  specialties.  He  never  broke  a  door  or 
forced  a  window  to  get  to  a  box.  His  method  was  to  reach 
a  fire  escape  and  make  his  way  to  the  roof  of  a  building. 
He  would  then  descend  to  the  floor  on  which  the  safe  was 
located,  and  after  detecting  and  fixing  a  side  or  back  door, 
through  which  the  "get-away"  was  to  be  made  in  case  of  an 
interruption  on  the  part  of  a  watchman  or  officer  on  the 
beat,  would  go  to  work. 

I  returned  to  St.  Louis  one  night,  and  in  discussing  the 
robberies  with  Mr.  Dawson,  I  learned  that  Coleman  had 
not  reported  at  the  office  during  my  absence.  The  next 
morning  I  called  on  the  foreman  of  the  Hamilton-Brown 
.Shoe  Company,  by  Vv^hom  Coleman  had  been  employed,  and 
who  was  the  only  man  in  St.  Louis  besides  Dawson  and 


168  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

myself  who  knew  the  ex-convict's  record.  The  foreman 
told  me  that  Mike  had  left  his  position  about  a  month 
before,  without  making  any  explanation.  He  had  simply 
drawn  his  week's  wages  and  had  failed  to  show  up  again. 
On  learning  these  facts,  I  was  more  than  ever  convinced 
that  Coleman  had  gone  wrong  again.  I  was  very  busy  in 
my  office  that  day  looking  after  matters  that  had  accumu- 
lated during  my  absence,  and  did  not  leave  for  home  until 
after  5  130  P.  M.  On  my  way  to  the  car  I  passed  a  door- 
way, in  which  was  standing  a  man  whom  I  recognized  as 
Pat  Lawler,  the  best  detective  on  the  city  force,  and  with 
whom  I  was  on  very  friendly  terms.  On  approaching  Law- 
ler I  found  him  to  be  asleep.  After  I  had  awakened  him 
he  told  me  he  and  his  partner  and  several  other  men  in  the' 
department  had  been  on  continuous  duty  for  over  36  hours, 
trying  to  get  a  "line"  on  the  men  who  were  "blowing  up 
the  town"  as  he  expressed  it.  He  then  told  me  that  the  men 
in  the  department  were  still  at  sea,  having  no  clue  as  to 
who  was  doing  the  work.  "I  am  going  to  bed  and  get 
some  rest,  at  any  rate,"  said  Lawler,  "and  I  do  not  care 
what  'the  big  finger'  (Chief  of  Police)  says'  about  it." 

I  then  told  Lawler  I  believed  I  knew  who  was  doing  the 
work,  or  at  least  directing  it.  and  told  him  that  if  he  and 
his  partner  would  meet  me  at  Twelfth  and  Olive  Streets  at 
5  130  the  next  morning  I  would  help  them  find  the  m.an  I 
suspected.  After  telling  me  that  he  and  his  partner  would 
be  at  he  rendezvous  at  the  appointed  time,  Lawler  and  I 
parted  company. 

Coleman,  under  the  alias  of  Charlie  Clark,  v/as  living  at 
that  time  on  the  second  floor  of  a  house  fronting  on  Biddle 
Street,  between  Ninth  and  Tenth  Streets.  The  entrance  to  this 
flat  was  made  from  the  alley  in  the  rear.  I  knew  Coleman's 
wife,  or  the  woman  he  claimed  to  be  his  wife.     She  had 


THE  TOUGHEST  OF  TOUGH  TOWNS. 


169 


formerly  been  the  wife  of  Tom  Gosling,  a  noted  crook,  who 
was  at  that  time  in  the  Missouri  penitentiary,  doing  a  ten 
year  stretch.  Her  first  name  was  Annie,  and  she  had  a  son 
about  6  or  7  years  of  age. 

Lawler  and  his  partner  were  at  the  corner  of  Twelfth  and 
Olive  Streets  promptly  at  5  :30  the  next  morning,  accord- 
ing to   appointment-      I   then   told   them   all   about    Coleman, 


Mike  Coleman,  alias  Chas.  Clark. 
Daring  burglar  and  "peterman"  employed  to  blow  the 
City  Hall  vault,  East  St.  Louis. 

and  we  proceeded  to  the  latter's  fllat.  On  reaching  the 
head  of  the  stairway,  I  knocked  at  the  door.  Mrs.  Cole- 
man, garbed  only  in  a  night  robe,  came  to  the  door  and 
opened  it  a  few  inches.  I  stuck  my  foot  in  the  door  to 
keep  her  from  closing  it. 


170  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE.    . 

"I  want  to  see  Charlie,"  I  explained  to  her. 

"He  is  not  here,  Mr.  Furlong,"  she  replied,  after  recogniz- 
ing me  and  permitting  us  to  enter.  "I  do  not  know  where 
he  is/'  she  continued.  She  then  told  me  that  Charlie  had 
gone  to  drinking  and  had  quit  his  job  about  a  week  be- 
fore, and  she  did  not  know  where  he  was  or  what  he  was 
doing.  I  knew  she  was  not  telling  me  the  truth,  as  Charlie 
had  quit  his  job  at  least  a  month  previous,  and  did  not 
drink  at  all.  In  fact,  he  never  had  been  known  to  drink 
to  excess.  While  we  were  talking  I  noticed  a  large-sized 
picture  of  Coleman  hanging  on  the  wall.  This  I  told  the 
officers  to  take,  and  commanded  her  to  dress. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do,  Mr.  Furlong?"  she  asked. 

"I  am  going  to  take  you  down  to  police  headquarters  for 
lying  to  me,"  I  replied. 

Both  she  and  her  boy  began  to  cry  and  make  a  scene,  but 
she  finally  began  dressing.  While  this  was  going  on  I 
heard  a  slight  noise  in  the  front  room. 

"Who  is  in  there?"  I  asked,  jumping  to  the  door. 

"A  couple  of  friends  of  Charlie's  from  Hannibal,"  she 
replied. 

Lawler  and  I  entered  this  room  and  found  a  couple  of 
men  in  bed.  After  placing  them  under  arrest  we  recognized 
them  as  a  couple  of  crooks,  both  of  whom  were  heavily 
armed.  Under  the  bed  was  a  gunny  sack,  which,  on  in- 
vestigation, we  found  to  contain  a  safe-blowing  outfit,  in- 
cluding a  sectional  jimmy,  a  pair  of  "come-a-longs"  (tool 
used  to  pull  the  knob  or  "ears"  off  of  a  safe),  a  new  ham- 
mer and  other  tools.  These  men  had  evidently  returned  to 
the  room  late  and  being  tired  threw  the  sack  under  the 
bed  and  went  to  sleep. 

Just  as  we  were  about  to  take  our  departure  from  the 
room  with  the  prisoners  a  mail  carrier  arrived  with  a  let- 


THE  TOUGHEST  OF  TOUGH  TOWNS.  171 

ter  for  Mrs.  Clark.  I  took  charge  of  the  letter  and  saw  it 
had  been  mailed  at  Springfield,  Mo.  I  handed  it  to  Mrs. 
Clark  and  she  opened  it  and  read  its  contents.  The  letter 
was  from  her  husband,  and  stated  he  was  in  Springfield, 
and  for  her  to  answer  it  at  once  as  he  was  only  going  to 
remain  in  Springfield  a  couple  of  days,  and  he  wanted  to 
hear  from  her  before  leaving  there.  We  then  took  our 
prisoners,  including  Mrs.  Clark,  to  the  Four  Courts.  Some 
small  pictures  of  Clark  were  taken  from  the  large  one  we 
had  found  in  his  home,  and  Chief  of  Detectiv^es  Eurkc, 
armed  with  one  of  these  pictures,  left  at  once  for  Spring- 
field to  try  and  effect  his  capture.  In  this  Burke  was  suc- 
cessful, as  Clark  appeared  at  the  post-ofifice  to  get  his  mail 
and  was  recognized  and  placed  under  arrest.  Clark  was 
.brought  back  to  St.  Louis.  He  would  not  talk  to  the  St, 
Louis  officers,  although  the  latter  used  every  art  known  lo 
them  to  make  the  prisoner  "cough  up."  Clark  told  Chief 
af  Police  Harrigan  he  knew  nothing  that  would  do  them 
any  good,  but  that  he  had  some  information  that  was  very 
valuable  for  me,  and  asked  that  I  be  called.  At  that  lime 
the  relations  between  the  chief  and  myself  were  some 
strained,  to  express  it  mildly,  but  the  Chief  finally  sent  for 
me.  "This  thief  has  some  information  for  you,"  said  Har- 
rigan to  me  on  my  arrival  .at  his  office.  "I  do  not  believe 
he  is  much  of  a  thief,  either,  as  I  know  all  the  good  ones," 
continued  the  chief.  After  shaking  hands  with  Clark  he 
told  me  the  city  officers  could  not  connect  him  with  any  of 
the  jobs  pulled  off  here,  as  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  them, 
Init  declined  to  talk  further  in  the  presence  of  the  chief, 
we  being  in  the  latter's  office  at  the  time.  As  Harrigan 
did  not  seem  inclined  to  let  me  interview  Clark  privately  I 
left,  and  returned  to  my  office. 


172  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTr/E. 

Later  in  the  day  Clark  employed  a  lawyer,  and  sent  him 
to  me  to  tell  me  that  if  I  would  get  him  across  the  river  he 
would  tell  me  all  about  that  job,  meaning  the  looting  oi 
the  City  Hall  vault.  I  referred  Clark's  lawyer  to  Prosecut- 
ing Attorney  Holder  of  St.  Clair  County,  Illinois,  and  later 
the  latter  made  a  demand  on  the  St.  Louis  police  for  the 
possession  of  Clark.  The  St.  Louis  officers,  thinking  that 
they  might  secure  at  least  a  part  of  the  reward  which  had 
been  offered  for  the  apprehension  of  the  men  who  com- 
mitted the  East  St.  Louis  crime,  took  Clark  over  the  river, 
where  he  was  locked  up.  I  then  called  on  him  and  he  told 
me  all  about  the  vault  robbery. 

According  to  his  story,  which  was  later  verified  by  his 
two  assistants,  Clark  was  employed  to  do  the  job  by  Thos. 
A.  Canty,  acting  city  treasurer,  to  hide  an  alleged 
shortage  in  Canty's  accounts.  The  latter  was,  it  was 
claimed  $60,000  short,  having  lost  the  money  at  poker. 
The  money  had  to  be  turned  over  the  next  day,  and  Canty 
could  not  do  it,  because  he  could  not  raise  that  amount. 
Clark  had  been  introduced  to  Canty  by  Patrick  Eagan,  who 
was  at  that  time  running  a  saloon  in  East  St.  Louis,  and 
was  one  of  the  city's  aldermen.  Eagan  was  regarded  as  a 
friend  of  crooks  of  the  higher  class,  such  as  confidence  men, 
safe  blowers  and  "big  mitt"  men.  Coleman  claimed  he 
was  told  by  Canty  that  ten  thousand  dollars  would 
be  left  on  the  top  of  the  safe,  which  was  the  amount  he  was 
to  receive  for  doing  the  work.  Coleman  was  also  intro- 
duced to  Lieutenant  Duffy,  acting  night  chief  of  police  of 
the  East  St.  Louis  department,  who  was  to  act  as  lookout 
while  the  work  was  being  done.  The  ten  thousand  dollars 
was  to  be  divided  equally  between  Duffy,  Eagan  and  Cole- 
man.    A  few  days  before  the  time  set  for  doing  the  job 


THE  TOUGHEST  OF  TOUGH  TOWNS.  173 

Canty  became  ill  and  was  taken  to  Hot  Springs.  This  did 
not  interfere  with  the  plans,  however,  D.  J.  Canty,  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony,  taking  his  brother's  place  in  making 
the  final  arrangements  for  the  entering  of  the  vault.  Cole- 
man did  the  real  work,  assisted  by  Eagan,  while  Duffy,  in 
full  uniform,  stood  guard  on  the  outside.  A  box,  in  which 
was  supposed  to  be  $10,000,  was  found  on  top  of  the  safe, 
as  had  been  promised  by  Canty.  This  box  was  taken  by 
the  three  men  to  Duffy's  home  and  its  contents  poured  out 
on  the  kitchen  table,  but  instead  of  $10,000  there  was 
only  $3,000.  This  money  was  divided  equally  among  the 
three  men,  after  which  all  went  downtown  again.  It  was 
then  about  2:30  A.  M.  Duffy,  not  wishing  to  carry  so 
much  money  around  with  him,  placed  his  part  in  the  safe 
of  a  saloonkeeper  friend,  who  was  also  an  alderman.  The 
lieutenant  in  his  testimony  at  the  trial  of  the  Cantys,  two 
years  afterwards,  declared  that  his  $1,000  decreased  to 
$700  during  the  night.  In  other  words,  some  one  had 
touched  the  roll  for  $300. 

I  told  Prosecuting  Attorney  Holder  and  the  Citizens' 
Committee  about  Coleman's  confession,  and  was  employed 
to  secure  corroborating  evidence,  which  was  done.  Eagan 
and  Duffy  were  arrested,  convicted  and  sentenced  to  five 
years  each  in  the  penitentiary.  They  appealed  the  case, 
but  at  the  next  term  of  court  withdrew  their  appeals,  after 
a  conference  with  Prosecuting  Attorney  Holder,  and  en- 
tered pleas  of  guilty,  and  received  two  3^ears  each.  The 
Canty  brothers  were  arrested,  but  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  Coleman,  Duffy  and  Eagan  testified  for  the  state,  and 
there  was  much  corroborating  evidence,  the  jury  failed  to 
agree,  standing  seven  for  conviction  to  five  for  acquittal. 


174  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

At  the  time  it  was  alleged  that  money  had  been  expended 
very  freely  to  clear  the  brothers. 

Coleman  was  not  prosecuted.  He  left  the  city  for  the 
west,  and  the  next  I  heard  of  him  he  was  conducting  a 
saloon  on  Geary  Street,  San  Francisco.  Later  he  and 
Henry  Schultz,  another  noted  peterman,  formed  an  alliance 
and  opened  a  half  dozen  "boxes"  in  the  country  surround- 
ing the  Golden  Gate  metropolis.  They  were  finally  set- 
tled for  one  of  their  jobs  by  Capt.  Leas,  of  Frisco.  Later 
Coleman  was  released,  but  was  soon  afterwards  killed  at 
Houston,  Texas,  while  attempting  to  rob  a  bank.  He  was 
acting  as  lookout,  while  his  pals  were  at  work  on  the  vault. 
The  first  explosion  attracted  the  attention  of  the  police, 
who  opened  fire  on  Coleman  and  his  death  was  instantane- 
ous ;  thus  his  long  career  of  crime  ended. 

Chief  of  Detectives  Burke,  of  the  St.  Louis  Police  De- 
partment, afterwards  claimed  the  reward  for  capturing  the 
vault  robbers,  and  I  believe  secured  a  part  of  the  money, 
but  he  was  really  not  entitled  to  a  cent,  as  he  had  done 
none  of  the  real  work  on  the  case. 

The  next  sensation  in  East  St.  Louis  was  the  assassina- 
tion of  Ex-Mayor  John  B.  Bowman,  which  occurred  about 
6 130  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  November  20,  1885.  The 
assassin  did  his  work  well.  It  can  be  described  in  a  sen- 
tence— a  shot  was  fired,  and  the  corpse  of  the  leader  of  the 
reformers  was  found  lying  near  the  gate  leading  to  his 
residence,  alone  with  the  secret.  I  was  employed  by  the 
son  of  the  dead  man  to  try  and  unravel  the  mystery,  being 
given  complete  charge  of  the  case.  I  had  known  Bowman 
for  years,  and  was  acquainted  with  his  past  life,  which  had 
been  a  very  turbulent  one.  He  had  always  been  a  fighter, 
one  of  the  kind  who  never  knew  when  they  were  whipped. 
He  settled  in  East  St.  Louis  in  the  latter  part  of  the  '60s,  and 


THE  TOUGHEST  OF  TOUGH  TOWNS.  175 

acquired  a  large  amount  of  property.  He  was  one  of  the 
few  men  who  recognized  the  fact  that  East  St.  Louis 
would  later  become  a  great  industrial  center.  Because  of 
his  large  interests  he  took  an  active  part  in  municipal 
affairs,  which,  of  course,  brought  him  in  contact  with 
the  politicians.  Bowman  knew  all  about  politics,  even 
what  is  called  the  "practical"  side  of  the  game,  but  he 
was  a  poor  diplomat — one  of  the  kind  of  men  who  always 
called  a  spade  a  spade,  consequently  he  was  often  in 
trouble  with  those  who  opposed  him  or  his  plans.  He 
was  often  deserted  by  men  whom  he  had  practically  made 
politically,  because  of  his  radical  views  on  some  ques- 
tion at  issue.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  bitter  war  on 
the  person  so  offending,  by  Bowman.  He  never  forgave 
a  man  who  had  deserted  him  or  his  cause. 

On  taking  charge  of  the  case  the  day  after  the  diabol- 
ical crime  had  been  committed,  I  was  not  surprised  to 
learn  that  several  of  the  dead  man's  enemies  were  busy 
preparing  alibis.  Another  thing  that  impressed  me  as 
a  little  peculiar  was  that  the  police  department  was  mak- 
ing no  effort  to  find  the  perpetrator  of  the  crime.  After 
considerable  hard  work  by  both  myself  and  my  men,  I 
succeeded  in  finding  a  couple  of  parties  who  claimed  that 
they  had  seen  the  fatal  shot  fired.  They  were  Christian 
A.  Schmidt  and  William  Banks.  These  men  were  re- 
turning from  the  country,  where  they  had  been  to  secure 
some  tobacco  which  had  been  stolen  from  a  freight  car 
and  hidden  in  a  hay  stack.  As  they  neared  the  Bowman 
home  they  saw  a  flash  from  across  the  street,  and  saw 
Bowman  fall.  They  recognized  George  W.  Voice,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  police  force,  as  the  man  who  did  the  shooting. 
Later  some  more  evidence  was  obtained,  which,  it  was 
thought,    v/ould    corroborate    the    statements    of    Schmidt 


176  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

and  Banks.  This  corroborative  evidence  implicated  an- 
other police  officer  named  Patrick  O'Neil.  Voice  was  ar- 
rested at  once  and  taken  to  Belleville  and  locked  up. 
Later  O'Neil  called  on  Voice  at  the  jail,  and  he,  too,  was 
placed  behind  the  bars,  he  having  been  indicted  as  an  ac- 
cessory that  day.  These  arrests  caused  a  great  sensation, 
not  only  in  St.  Clair  County,  but  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river  as  well. 

At  the  preliminary  hearing  of  Voice,  Schmidt  and  Banks 
went  on  the  stand  and  told  their  story  in  a  straightforward 
manner,  and  the  defendant  was  returned  to  jail  without 
bail.  The  friends  of  the  prisoners  then  began  harrassing 
the  state's  witnesses.  The  cases  against  the  men  were  con- 
tinued from  time  to  time  until  April  3,  1887,  when  the 
prosecuting  attorney  dismissed  the  charges  against  the  ac- 
cused because  he  could  not  obtain  service  upon  the  state's 
witnesses,  they  having  left  the  county  because  of  the  threats 
made  against  them. 

The  outcome  of  the  case  caused  great  rejoicing  among 
the  crooks  and  plug-uglies  in  East  St.  Louis,  and  they  be- 
gan again  to  show  their  hands. 

The  Wabash  Railroad,  at  that  time  one  of  the  Missouri 
Pacific  properties,  had  rather  large  interests  over  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river.  It  was  a  nightly  occurrence  for  our 
cars  to  be  broken  open  and  looted.  It  was  no  trouble  for 
us  to  locate  the  thief,  or  thieves,  who  did  the  work,  but  it 
was  another  thing  to  have  them  arrested  by  the  officers 
who  were  receiving  pay  for  protecting  them.  My  activity 
in  trying  to  cause  the  arrest  and  conviction  of  these  car 
robbers,  and  in  the  other  cases  mentioned,  earned  for  me 
the  ill  will  of  the  police  department.  While  they  never  at- 
tempted to  harm  me,  the  police  would  pick  up  my  men  and 
lock  them  up  on  trumped  up  charges,  convict  them  in  the 


THE  TOUGHEST  OF  TOUGH  TOWNS.  177 

police  court,  which  was  of  the  "kangaroo"  type,  and  put 
them  to  work  on  the  streets  with  a  ball  and  chain  attached 
to  prevent  them  from  running  away.  After  the  police  over 
there  had  turned  a  few  tricks  of  this  kind,  I  decided  to  put 
a  stop  to  it  by  "reforming"  the  police  department.  To  do 
this  I  had  to  shut  off  the  source  of  revenue  from  which  the 
officials  were  being  corrupted,  for  I  knew,  even  at  that  date 
in  life,  that  it  took  bribe  money  to  create  such  a  condition  ot 
affairs.  The  men  higher  up,  in  this  case,  were  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  gambling  houses.  They  were  paying  $i,ooo 
per  week  for  protection.  This  was  a  nice  little  "bit"  to  be 
split  up  by  a  few  aldermen  and  city  officials  and  the  heads 
of  the  police  department, 

I  called  on  Prosecuting  Attorney  Holder  at  Belleville,  and 
asked  his  co-operation  in  bringing  about  a  change  in  the 
state  of  affairs.  I  was  not  very  well  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Holder  at  that  time,  but  I  knew  he  was  honest  and  a  man 
who  would  do  his  duty.  After  I  had  entered  his  office  and 
introduced  myself,  a  dialogue  something  like  this,  as  I  re- 
member it,  took  place : 

"Do  you  know  that  the  gamblers  of  East  St.  Louis  are 
putting  up  $i,ooo  per  week  for  protection?"    I  asked. 

"I  have  heard  they  were  putting  up  money,"  he  replied, 
"but  I  have  no  real  evidence  as  to  how  much." 

"Are  you  and  the  sheriff  getting  your  part  of  it?"  I  con- 
tinued. 

The  question  had  hardly  left  my  lips  before  I  saw  the 
prosecuting  attorney  was  beginning  to  make  arrangements 
to  throw  me  out  of  his  office.  Before  he  had  time  to  begin 
the  work,  however,  I  explained  that  I  was  joking,  and  we 
both  had  a  good  laugh.  Getting  down  to  business  again, 
Mr.  Holder  told  me  that  he  would  "go  after  the  gamblers 
with  hammer  and  tongs"  if  he  had  the  evidence. 


178  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

"I  will  get  you  that  evidence,  and  pay  the  expenses  out 
of  my  own  pocket,"  I  replied. 

The  prosecuting  attorney  then  assured  me  that  the 
sheriff  could  be  relied  upon  to  do  his  part.  I  already  knew 
this,  for  I  had  investigated  both  men's  character  before  I 
had  decided  to  make  the  move  that  I  had.  The  sheriff  was 
called  upon,  and  he,  too,  promised  to  aid  me  in  every  man- 
ner possible.  After  asking  both  officials  to  keep  the  matter 
a  secret  until  I  had  worked  out  the  plans  fully,  I  returned 
to  St,  Louis. 

I  sent  a  number  of  my  men  across  the  river,  and  it  did  not 
take  long  to  get  all  the  evidence  needed.  After  arranging 
this  evidence,  I  took  it  to  Prosecuting  Attorney  Holder  and 
secured  the  necessary  warrants.  Sheriff  Ropiequet  was 
called  over  to  St.  Louis  and  plans  for  raiding  the  houses 
simultaneously  were  made.  I  secured  and  paid  for  out  of 
my  own  pocket  an  engine  and  two  coaches  from  the  Cairo 
Short  Line  Railway,  and  had  them  in  readiness  to  take  my 
men  and  the  people  we  were  to  arrest  from  East  St.  Louis 
to  the  county  seat  at  Belleville,  after  the  raid.  While  there 
were  over  thirty  open  gambling  establishments  in  East  St. 
Louis,  I  knew  I  could  not  raid  all  of  them  at  one  time,  so  I 
decided  to  raid  the  four  largest,  the  ones  whose  owners 
were  the  most  active  in  bringing  about  the  crooked  state 
of  affairs.  On  the  afternoon  preceding  the  raid,  I  sent  four 
trusted  men,  all  armed,  over  the  big  bridge,  with  instruc- 
tions to  separate  on  the  other  side,  one  going  to  each  of  the 
four  houses  to  be  raided.  These  men  were  instructed  to 
stay  in  the  houses  until  the  raids  were  made,  to  prevent 
the  gamblers  from  locking  their  vaults  and  thus  hiding 
their  tools  and  other  evidence.  I  then  hired  a  big  moving 
van,  in  which  I  placed  eighteen  of  my  men.  Sheriff* 
Ropiequet  and  I   occupied  the  seat,   I  doing  the  driving. 


THE  TOUGHEST  OF  TOUGH  TOWNS.  179 

We  had  a  number  of  fishing  poles  in  the  wagon  to  give  the 
outfit  the  appearance  of  a  fishing  party.  On  reaching  the 
other  side  I  divided  the  men  into  four  squads,  placing  a 
captain  in  charge  of  each.  The  squad  I  was  to  lead  stayed 
in  the  wagon.  After  giving  the  other  squads  time  to  reach 
their  houses  I  drove  the  van  to  Colonel  Claude  Cave's  fa- 
mous resort.  I  handed  the  lines  to  the  sheriff  and  ran  up 
the  stairs,  followed  by  my  men.  We  gained  an  entrance 
without  any  trouble  and  found  the  games  running  in  full 
blast.  The  gamblers  were  taken  completely  by  surprise,  but 
submitted  quietly  to  arrest.  The  spectators  and  players  were 
not  molested,  but  many  of  them  became  panic-stricken 
when  it  dawned  upon  them  that  a  raid  was  being  made,  and 
sought  to  make  their  escape  by  jumping  from  the  v/indows 
to  the  alley  in  the  rear  of  the  building,  many  of  them  actu- 
ally making  their  escape  in  that  manner.  The  gambling 
paraphernalia  was  taken  down  to  the  wagon,  while  the 
gamblers  and  their  employes  were  marched  to  the  waiting 
train.  The  wagon  was  then  driven  to  the  other  houses, 
which  had  been  raided  at  the  same  time  by  the  other  squads 
of  my  men,  and  the  gambling  tools  found  there  hauled  to 
the  train.  In  making  the  raid  every  kind  of  gambling 
device  known  to  the  profession  was  captured,  including 
faro  boxes  and  layouts,  dice,  roulette  wheels,  sweat  boards, 
keno  balls  and  cards,  and  something  like  four  bushels  of 
poker  and  faro  chips.  All  of  this  stuff  was  burned  on  the 
public  square  in  Belleville  after  the  conviction  of  the 
gamblers.  Most  of  the  men  arrested  pleaded  guilty,  and 
those  who  did  not  were  convicted  and  the  county  was 
made  some  $22,000  richer  by  the  fines. 

The  raid  created  a  great  sensation  in  East  St.  Louis.  It 
was  the  biggest  stunt  of  the  kind  that  had  ever  been  pulled 
off  over  there,  and  I  received  much  praise  from  the  law- 


180  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

loving  people  of  the  city  for  doing  the  job.  As  I  had 
anticipated,  it  ended  open  bribery  in  East  St.  Louis,  and 
later  to  the  ousting  of  the  crooked  officials,  for  at  the  next 
election  the  good  people  triumphed  and  succeeded  in  elect- 
ing men  who  would  do  their  duty. 

The  new  Mayor  was  Col.  M.  M.  Stevens,  and  as  he  had 
the  co-operation  of  an  honest  Board  of  Aldermen,  it  did 
not  take  him  long  to  finish  the  cleaning  of  the  police  depart- 
ment I  had  begun.  My  men  were  then  enabled  to  go  about 
their  work  of  arresting  car  thieves  without  being  inter- 
fered with  by  the  police. 

If  my  memory  serves  me  right,  Mayor  Stevens  served  six 
or  seven  terms,  and  did  much  to  make  East  St.  Louis  the 
city  it  is  today.  But  this  work  was  not  accomplished  with- 
out much  hard  labor  on  his  part  and  on  the  part  of  those 
who  assisted  him,  for  the  gamblers  and  crooks  did  not  give 
up  without  a  struggle.  Mayor  Stevens,  however,  made  it 
as  law-abiding  a  place  during  his  administration  as  any 
other  city  in  the  country  of  its  size. 

No  man  deserves  more  credit  for  the  ending  of  gang 
rule  in  East  St.  Louis  at  that  time,  however,  than  does 
J.  W.  Kirk,  editor  of  the  Signal.  This  paper  fearlessly  ex- 
posed all  of  the  gang's  methods,  and  to  this  fact  was 
really  due  the  awakening  of  the  public  conscience  over 
there. 


THE  ROHAN  EXPRESS  ROBBERY. 

THE  THIEVES  ARE  TAKEN  AFTER  A  FOUR  MONTHS  CHASE,  AND  ALL 
PLEAD  GUILTY— THE  MESSENGER  DUPED. 

The  Rohan  Pacific  Express  robbery  occurred  near  Rohan, 
Indiana,  on  what  was  then  a  part  of  the  Wabash  Railroad. 
The  Pacific  Express  Company  had  one  of  their  cars  attached 


THE  ROHAN  EXPRESS  ROBBERY.  181 

to  the  Wabash  train, ,  which  was  running  between  Detroit, 
Michigan,  and  IndianapoHs,  Indiana.  It  left  Detroit  in  the 
evening  and  should  have  arrived  at  Indianapolis  at  about 
two  o'clock  the  following  morning. 

One  night  in  October,  1883,  the  train  stopped  at  Rohan,  a 
small,  local  station,  and  the  train  was  boarded  by  two  men. 
They  entered  by  the  front  door  of  the  express  car,  and  over- 
powered Bert  Lumas,  the  express  messenger,  stuffing  a  large 
roll,  consisting  of  two  handkerchiefs,  into  his  mouth.  After 
tying  another  handkerchief  around  his  face,  and  then  tying 
his  hands  behind  his  back,  he  was  leashed  with  a  rope  to  the 
express  company's  safe.  They  took  the  keys  to  the  safe  from 
the  messenger,  after  overpowering  him,  and  looted  the  safe 
of  its  contents.  There  were,  besides  much  jewelry  and  other 
valuables,  about  $4,100.00  in  the  safe.  They  left  the  car  at 
a  point  between  Rohan  and  Peru,  Indiana. 

When  the  train  halted  at  Peru  station  the  expressman  rapped 
on  the  car  door,  and  receiving  no  reply,  he  and  others  forced  en- 
trance into  the  car  door,  where  they  found  Lumas  lying  on  his  back 
with  his  arms  and  shoulders  tied  to  the  safe,  and  unconscious. 
They  found  indications  of  a  struggle.  There  were  three  or 
four  bullet  holes  in  the  side  and  roof  of  the  car,  the  shots 
evidently  having  been  fired  from  within.  They  discovered 
the  safe  open  and  the  contents  gone.  Medical  aid  was  sum- 
moned, and  the  doctor,  after  considerable  trouble,  succeeded 
in  restoring  Lumas  to  consciousness.  He  bore  no  marks  of 
violence  other  than  what  he  had  suffered  from  the  gag  that 
had  been  forced  into  his  mouth.  This  gag  had  almost  cost  him 
his  life,  as  the  ball  was  so  large  that  it  had  prevented  him 
from  breathing  hardly  at  all.  When  restored  to  consciousness 
he  stated  that  as  the  train  was  leaving  Rohan  he  was  busy 
writing  out  his  report,  and  while  thus  engaged  he  was  pounced 
upon  by  two  powerful  men  who  were  wearing  masks.     They 


182  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

felled  him  to  the  floor,  gagged  him  and  bound  him  as  he  had 
been  found,  and  took  his  keys  and  robbed  the  safe-  While 
they  were  doing  this  he  became  unconscious  from  the  effect 
of  the  gag.  He  said  that  they  had  taken  his  pistol,  which  was 
lying  on  a  table  in  front  of  him,  and  fired  two  or  more  shots 
at  him,  but  none  of  the  shots  took  effect.  I  was  Chief  Special 
Agent  for  the  Wabash  Railroad,  which  was  a  part  of  the 
Gould  System.  The  case  was  reported  to  me  by  wire  the 
following  morning.  I  went  to  Rohan  at  once,  and  was  unable 
to  obtain  any  information.  It  seemed  that  the  robbers  had 
not  been  seen  by  any  one  in  or  near  Rohan.  They  had 
probably  been  in  hiding  and  boarded  the  train  unobserved, 
just  as  it  was  leaving  the  station.  I  then  went  to  Detroit, 
where  I  saw  and  interviewed  Lumas,  the  express  messenger. 
Lumas  was  a  young  man  about  twenty-six  years  of  age,  fine 
looking,  about  six  feet  tall,  and  weighed  about  one  hundred 
and  eighty  pounds.  He  was  born  and  raised  in  Vermont. 
He  had  an  older  brother,  who  was  a  passenger  conductor  on 
the  main  line  of  the  Wabash  Railroad,  who  had  been  in  the 
service  of  the  company  for  many  years,  and  afterwards  re- 
mained in  the  service  about  thirty  years,  or  until  his  death. 
They  had  a  widowed  mother,  who  resided  in  Vermont.  Bert, 
the  messenger,  had  always  lived  with  his  mother  until  he  took 
service  with  the  Pacific  Express.  His  standing  with  that 
company  was  first-class. 

While  I  was  making  my  investigation  at  Detroit,  I  met  Mr. 
Brazee,  superintendent  for  the  Pacific  Express  Company  of  the 
Wabash  division,  with  headquarters  at  Decatur,  Illinois-  Mr. 
Brazee  told  me  of  Lumas'  good  standing  with  the  company, 
and  spoke  of  him  in  the  highest  terms.  I  told  Mr.  Brazee 
that  I  was  inclined  to  believe  that  Lumas  might  have  been 
connected  with  the  robbery.  He  vigorously  discredited  the 
idea.     "Why,"  he  said,  "Lumas,  you  should  remember,  was 


THE  ROHAN  EXPRESS  ROBBERY.  183 

almost  dead  when  he  was  found  in  his  car  at  Peru.  The 
robbers,  doubtless,  tried  to  kill  him,  and  would  have  succeeded 
had  it  not  been  for  the  timely  assistance  rendered  by  the 
doctors,  and,  of  course,  if  he  had  been  connected  with  the 
robbery  in  any  way  the  robbers  would  not  have  tried  to  kill 
him." 

I  knew  Mr.  Brazee  personally,  and  I  knew  him  to  be  a  kind- 
hearted  man  and  a  thorough  gentleman,  and  I  appreciated 
very  much  the  stand  he  had  taken  for  one  of  his  subordinates. 
I  interviewed  Mr.  Fuller,  the  general  superintendent  of  the 
Pacific  Express  Company,  and  all  the  other  officers  who  would 
have  been  likely  to  know  anything  about  Lumas.  They  all 
spoke  of  him  in  the  highest  terms,  and  of  his  brother  they 
spoke  equally  as  well.  I  did  not  know  that  Lumas  was  con- 
nected with  the  robbery  in  any  way,  and  they  speaking  of 
him  in  such  high  terms,  I  did  not  deem  it  advisable  for  me 
to  inform  the  express  authorities  that  I  believed  the  express 
messenger  was  implicated,  so  I  decided  to  put  a  shadow  on 
Lumas'  movements  on  each  end  of  his  route.  I  placed  two 
of  my  operatives  on  the  work;  one  at  Indianapolis,  and  one 
at  Detroit.  The  operative  at  Detroit  was  told  to  take  up 
Lumas  when  he  left  his  train  at  Detroit,  and  not  to  lose  sight 
of  him  until  he  left  on  his  train  for  Indianapolis.  The  operative 
at  Indianapolis  was  likewise  instructed ;  thus  Lumas  was  kept 
under  observation  at  each  end  of  the  road.  This  was  kept 
up  continually  for  about  four  months-  The  operative  at  Detroit 
had  discovered  that  Lumas  was  drinking  heavily  while  in  that 
city,  and  that  he  was  a  habitual  frequenter  of  saloons  and 
places  of  ill  repute.  Our  operative  at  Indianapolis  reported 
that  Lumas,  while  there,  would  leave  his  train  and  go  direct 
to  his  rooming  house,  retire  almost  immediately  and  remain 
there  until  time  to  leave  for  Detroit.  I  explained  this  to 
myself  in  this  way:    He  needed  the  sleep  and  rest  after  his 


184  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

carousing-  in  Detroit.  My  operative  secured  a  room  adjoining 
the  room  occupied  by  Lumas  at  Indianapolis,  and  the  other 
one  in  Detroit  was  just  as  fortunate,  and  in  a  short  time  my 
Detroit  man  made  the  acquaintance  of  Lumas,  became  his 
chum,  and  was  with  him  almost  continually  in  Detroit,  and 
in  that  way  became  acquainted  with  most  of  Lumas'  friends. 

At  this  time  there  was  a  private  detective  in  Detroit,  whose 
name  was  Pat  O'Neal.  O'Neal  was  a  widower  and  lived  with 
a  widow  rister  who  kept  a  rooming  house,  and  Lumas  and 
my  operative  both  roomed  with  this  widow.  O'Neal  did  not 
know  either  of  them  personally,  but  doubtless  learned  from 
his  sister  that  Lumas  was  employed  by  some  express  companv, 
and  that  my  operative  was,  as  he  represented  himself,  con- 
nected v^ith  some  advertising  concern  of  the  east.  There  was 
also  a  noted  thief  known  as  Jim  O'Neal,  who  was  no  relation 
to  Pat  O'Neal,  but  one  being  a  thief  and  the  other  a  detective, 
they  knew  each  other. 

One  night,  while  my  man  in  company  with  Lumas  was 
sitting  at  a  table  in  a  bee^*  garden  in  Detroit,  they  were 
approached  by  a  man  about  medium  size  and  plainly  dressed. 
He  appeared  to  be  about  forty  years  of  age,  five  foot  eight 
inches  tall,  and  weighed  about  145  or  150  pounds.  He  was 
light  complexioned,  sandy  haired  and  smooth  shaven.  He 
evidently  knew  Lumas  well,  for  he  sat  down  at  their  table, 
and  after  they  had  had  several  drinks  they  engaged  in  a 
conversation  in  an  undertone,  evidently  not  intended  for  the 
operative's  ears.  However,  the  operative  managed  to  hear 
a  good  deal  of  what  was  said.  The  stranger  was  evidently 
trying  to  convince  Lumas  that  everything  would  be  all  right. 
Lumas  was  heard  to  say,  "I  have  not  been  treated  right,  and 
this  is  why  I  have  been  drinking  so  much  of  late."  The  other 
man  was  heard  to  caution  him  about  drinking  so  much,  and 
to  keep  quiet,  telling  him  that  "everything  would  be  all  right 


THE  ROHAN  EXPRESS  ROBBERY.  185 

later  on."  After  hearing  this  conversation,  my  operative  located 
the  intruder  and  found  that  his  name  was  Denny  Downer,  a 
barkeeper  at  a  prominent  saloon  on  Griswold  Street,  Detroit. 

While  the  above  conversation  was  going  on  between  Lumas 
and  Downer,  Jim  O'Neal,  the  thief,  was  seated  at  a  table 
very  close  to  our  party,  with  some  of  his  friends.  O'Neal 
knew  Lumas  to  be  an  express  messenger,  and  knew  that  he 
lived  at  the  house  of  Pat  O'Neal's  sister,  and  hearing  a  part 
of  the  conversation  he  concluded  that  possibly  Lumas  was 
implicated  in  the  robbery  of  his  car,  and  when  he  met  his  name- 
sake, Pat,  the  private  detective,  he  told  the  conversation  he 
had  overheard  between  Lumas  and  Downer,  whom  Jim  O'Neal 
did  not  know. 

On  the  evening  of  the  following  day  I  received  a  report 
telling  me  of  the  happening,  and  on  the  next  day  I  received 
a  report  from  the  operative,  telling  me  that  he  had  located  the 
intruder  and  learned  what  his  name  was.  On  receipt  of  this 
report  I  at  once  decided  that  Denny  Downer,  whom  I  had 
known  for  years  as  a  thief,  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  parties 
who  had  participated  in  the  Rohan  robbery.  I  had  known 
Downer  in  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania.  In  fact,  I  was  in  criminal 
court  in  Pittsburg  on  one  occasion  when  Downer  was  convicted 
of  burglary,  and  received  a  sentence  of  five  years.  I  knew 
his  criminal  record.  The  description  I  had  received  tallied 
perfectly  with  that  of  Denny  Downer,  of  Pittsburg  memory, 
therefore  I  felt  sure  of  my  man. 

I  decided  to  go  to  Indianapolis  and  take  with  me  all  of 
the  daily  reports  received  from  my  two  operatives.  I  notified 
Mr.  Brazee  of  my  intention,  and  requested  him  to  accompany 
me  to  Indianapolis,  telling  him  that  I  expected  important 
developments  there.  He  wired  that  he  would  join  me  at 
Decatur,  Illinois,  and  go  with  me  to  Indianapolis.  On  arrival 
there  we  secured  adjoining  rooms  at  the  Spencer  House,  which 


186  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

is  just  across  the  street  from  the  Union  Station,  Indianapolis. 
We  arrived  there  in  the  evening,  and  Lumas'  train  was  to 
arrive  at  two  o'clock  the  next  morning.  I  instructed  my 
operative  at  Indianapolis  to  be  at  the  Union  Station  when 
Lumas'  train  arrived  and  to  bring  him  from  his  car  over  to 
my  room  just  as  soon  as  he  arrived-  I  had  had  one  of  my 
operatives  meet  him  at  his  train  several  times  before  and  take 
him  to  see  different  parties  for  the  purpose  of  identifying 
them  as  one  of  the  express  robbers,  but  Lumas,  on  each  of  these 
occasions,  failed  to  identify  them,  and  he  had  always  declared 
that  he  could  not  identify  any  person,  nor  give  any  accurate 
description  of  the  men  who  had  attacked  him  in  his  car  at 
Rohan.  I  never  expected  him  to  identify  any  one,  but  he 
had  been  told  by  the  express  company  to  go  with  me  or  any 
of  my  men  any  time  that  we  might  need  him  for  the  purpose 
of  identification,  so  I  knew  the  operative  would  have  no  trouble 
in  getting  him  to  come  to  the  hotel. 

On  this  particular  morning  I  learned  from  the  dispatcher 
that  Lumas'  train  would  arrive  on  time,  and  I  prepared  my 
room  for  his  reception.  I  set  a  table  in  the  middle  of  the 
room  and  spread  the  daily  reports  of  my  two  operatives  over 
the  top  of  this  table.  They  filled  it  completely.  I  told  the 
operative  to  tell  Lumas  that  he  had  a  party  that  he  wanted 
him  to  see,  in  my  room. 

Mr.  Brazee  was  occupying  a  room  next  to  and  opening  into 
mine,  and  I  arranged  to  *leave  the  door  partly  open,  and  he 
was  to  sit  alongside  of  the  door  in  such  a  manner  that  he  could 
hear  everything  that  was  said.  He  considered  the  whole  thing 
would  be  a  failure,  as  he  firmly  believed  in  Lumas'  innocence, 
as  did  all  the  other  officers  of  the  express  company. 

The  train  arrived,  and  the  operative  got  Lumas,  who 
grumbled  a  little  about  going  to  a  room  at  that  hour  of  the 
morning,  but  nevertheless  he  came  over.    The  operative  rapped 


THE  ROHAN  EXPRESS  ROBBERY.  187 

at  my  door,  and  I  bade  him  enter.  I  was  sitting  at  the  table 
containing  the  reports  when  he  opened  the  door  and  came  in 
accompanied  by  Lumas.  I  asked  Lumas  to  be  seated,  and 
told  the  operative  to  retire  to  the  hall  until  I  might  need  him. 
I  began  by  saying,  "Lumas,  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to 
these  reports  that  are  spread  out  on  this  table.  They  are  the 
daily  reports  of  my  operatives  who  have  shadowed  you  and 
those  associated  with  you,  for  the  past  four  months.  These 
reports  set  forth  everything  you  have  done  in  those  four 
months,  and  every  one  you  have  associated  with-  I  can  tell 
you  how  many  cigars  you  have  smoked,  how  many  drinks 
you  have  taken,  whom  you  have  talked  with,  and  what  you 
talked  about.  I  find  that  your  mother  is  a  fine  old  lady  and 
stands  high  in  the  community  where  she  resides,  in  Vermont. 
I  find  that  you  have  respectable  connections,  and  that  you  were 
well  raised.  I  know  all  about  your  brother  and  his  high 
standing  on  the  Wabash  Road,  and  that  your  character  here- 
tofore has  been  good.  Also  that  the  officers  of  the  Pacific 
Express  Company  have  had  the  highest  regard  for  you  and 
your  integrity,  and  for  these  reasons  I  have  taken  it  upon 
myself  to  give  you  the  opportunity  of  telling  the  whole  truth 
about  this  express  robbery,  but  I  want  you  to  understand 
distinctly  that  if  you  do  not  tell  the  truth,  if  you  say  one  word 
that  is  not  the  truth,  I  shall  stop  you  and  turn  you  over  to 
the  officers  of  the  law.  But,  if  you  do  tell  the  whole  truth, 
and  nothing  but  the  truth,  I  will  do  all  that  I  can  to  secure 
the  extension  of  leniency  to  you  for  your  part  in  the  crime. 
I  can  also  say  that  if  you  tell  the  whole  truth,  that  Mr.  B razee 
and  the  other  officers  will  be  as  lenient  with  you  as  the  law 
will  allow.  So  now  I  want  you  to  answer  my  questions  truth- 
fully or  not  at  all.  Now,  sir,  I  want  you  to  tell  me  how  much 
money  you  received  from  the  proceeds  of  that  robbery." 


188  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

He  said,  unhesitatingly,  "Mr.  Furlong,  I  only  received  ten 
dollars." 

Long  before  I  asked  this  question  I  could  see  moisture  in 
Lumas'  eyes,  and  he  finally  began  to  cry.  When  he  stated 
that  he  had  received  but  ten  dollars,  I  said  to  him,  "Now, 
Lumas,  wait  a  moment  until  I  call  in  Mr.  Brazee,  who  is  your 
friend." 

Mr-  Brazee  had  heard  every  word,  and  I  went  to  the  door 
and  asked  him  to  come  into  my  room.  As  he  entered  I  also 
noticed  moisture  in  his  eyes.  I  asked  Mr.  Brazee  to  write 
down  what  Lumas  said,  and  he  complied. 

"Lumas,"  I  said,  "who  were  the  two  men  who  robbed  your 
car?" 

He  replied,  "Denny  Downer  and  a  friend  of  his  whom  he 
called  Little  Al.  I  never  did  know  his  real  name."  Lumas 
went  on  and  stated  that  he  had  met  Denny  Downer  in  a  saloon 
in  Detroit  and  that  Downer  had  evidently  known  that  he  was 
an  express  messenger ;  that  as  he  had  gotten  well  acquainted 
with  him  and  had  got  to  drinking  considerable,  Downer  had 
induced  him  to  let  him  know  when  he  would  be  carrying  a 
large  sum  of  money,  or  what  they  called  a  "big  run,"  and 
that  Downer  had  explained  that  he  would  have  a  party  with 
him  and  would  board  his  car  at  an  out-of-the-way  station  and 
bind  him,  without  injuring  him,  and  shoot  a  few  bullets 
through  the  side  of  the  car  so  as  to  make  it  appear  that  he 
had  made  a  fight,  and  that  they  would  divide  the  spoils  and 
nobody  would  even  suspect  him  (Lumas)  by  reason  of  his 
good  standing  with  the  company.  He  finally  agreed  to  enter 
the  plot,  and  learned  that  there  was  to  be  a  safe  containing 
a  sum  of  money,  nearly  four  thousand  one  hundred  dollars, 
and  some  other  valuables,  on  the  day  of  the  robbery,  shipped 
over  on  his  train.  This  might  not  be  considered  a  big  prize, 
but  it  was  above  the  average.     He  notified  Downer,  and  he 


THE  ROHAN  EXPRESS  ROBBERY.  189 

and  Little  Al  took  a  train  from  Detroit  and  reached  Rohan 
a  Httle  ahead  of  his  train.  After  the  robbery,  and  he  had 
returned  to  Detroit,  Downer  sent  him  a  letter  containing  ten 
dollars,  with  the  understanding  that  he  would  give  him  more 
later  on,  but  that  he  had  never  received  any  more.  He  had 
become  sorry  that  he  had  gone  into  the  plot,  and  had  begun 
drinking.  He  further  stated  that  he  was  now  positive  they  had 
tried  to  kill  him  by  strangling  him  with  the  gag. 

Mr.  Brazee  and  the  express  company  officials  were  all  sur- 
prised at  Lumas'  confession-  I  turned  Lumas  over  to  my 
operative,  and  took  the  first  train  for  Detroit,  where  I  arrested 
Denny  Downer.  On  being  arrested  Downer  acknowledged 
his  connection  with  the  robbery,  and  told  me  that  Little  Al 
was  Al  Perry  of  Boston,  Mass.,  a  noted  porch  climber  and 
thief. 

I  lodged  Downer  and  Perry  in  the  county  jail  at  Wabash, 
Indiana,  where  in  the  course  ol  time  both  were  put  on  trial, 
pleaded  guilty,  and  were  sentenced  to  six  years  in  the  pen- 
itentiary at  Michigan  City,  Indiana. 

Their  sentences  were  made  lighter  by  reason  of  their  having 
pleaded  guilty.  Lumas  also  pleaded  guilty  and  was  used  as 
a  witness  before  the  Grand  Jury  against  Downer  and  Perry, 
and  it  having  developed  that  Lumas,  vi^ho  was  much  younger 
than  the  other  two,  being  inexperienced  in  crime,  was  per- 
suaded by  them  to  do  this  thing,  sentence  on  him  was  sus- 
pended. 

After  the  robbery  the  express  company  offered  a  reward  for 
the  arrest  and  conviction  of  each  of  the  robbers,  and  after 
they  had  been  arrested  and  convicted  Pat  O'Neal,  the  private 
detective,  filed  a  claim  against  the  express  company  to  recover 
the  reward.  He  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  obtaining 
of  the  information  which  led  to  the  arrest  and  conviction  of 


190  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

these  two  men,  and,  therefore,  his  claim  for  the  reward  was 
nothing  more  than  an  attempt  to  obtain  money  under  false 
pretense. 


ARREST  OF  LAWRENCE  POYNEER. 

A    CROOKED    YARDMASTER's    CRIME — BOLD    ATTEMPT    TO    THROW 

HIS    CAPTOR    OVERBOARD    FROM    A    STEAMER. — HIS 

CONVICTION,  SENTENCE  AND  A  LATER  ESCAPADE. 

Lawrence  Poyneer  was  a  young  man  about  twenty-eight 
years  of  age  in  1881.  He  was  a  railroad  man  and  was  em- 
ployed as  yardmaster  by  the  Texas  &  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  at  New  Orleans,  La.,  where  he  had  performed 
the  duties  of  his  position  in  a  satisfactory  manner  for  about 
two  years.  He  finally  went  crooked  and  formed  a  con- 
spiracy with  the  proprietor  of  a  cotton  pickery  in  New 
Orleans  to  defraud  his  employers.  There  are  a  large  num- 
ber of  cotton  pickeries  in  that  city.  Their  business  is  to 
buy  up  damaged  cotton,  such  as  has  been  through  a  fire 
and  has  been  water-soaked,  or  otherwise  damaged.  They 
pick  this  cotton  over  very  carefully,  eliminating  the  parts 
that  have  been  damaged  by  fire,  or  some  like  cause,  and 
sell  the  salvage  for  a  good  price.  In  other  words,  these 
cotton  pickeries  conduct  a  business  similar  to  that  of  junk 
dealers  in  other  cities. 

Poyneer  ran  a  car  load  of  cotton  into  one  of  these  pick- 
eries and  sold  it  much  below  its  market  value.  It  was 
promptly  unloaded  by  the  pickery  men,  who  destroyed  the 
marks  on  the  bales.  The  empty  car  was  located  after  some 
time  and  trouble,  by  me,  but  it  took  a  long  time  to  locate 
the  cotton. 


ARREST  OF  LAWRENCE  POYNEER.  191 

After  I  had  ascertained  what  had  become  of  the  cotton 
and  who  had  bought  it,  I  set  about  to  find  Poyneer,  who 
had  stolen  it.  I  learned  that  he  had  left  the  service  of  the 
company  of  his  own  accord,  about  three  weeks  after  the 
cotton  in  question  was  missed.  I  tracked  him  from  New 
Orleans  to  Palmyra,  New  York,  where  his  parents  resided. 
In  Palmyra  I  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  good  photograph 
and  a  good  description  of  him.  He  was  almost  a  giant  in 
stature,  being  nearly  six  feet,  six  inches  in  height,  splendid- 
ly built,  weighed  two  hundred  twenty-five  pounds,  and 
wore  a  number  eight  shoe.  He  was  a  fine  looking  fellow 
and  an  expert  railroad  train  service  man. 

From  Palmyra  I  traced  him  to  Buffalo,  New  York,  from 
there  to  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  from  St.  Paul  I  traced  him  to  Port- 
land, Oregon,  and  from  Portland  to  Wallah-Wallah,  Wash- 
ington. From  Wallah-Wallah  back  to  Ladales,  Washing- 
ton, which  is  about  midway  between  Portland  and  Wal- 
lah-Wallah, and  on  the  Columbia  River.  Here  I  found 
him  in  the  service  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Co.,  en- 
gaged in  painting  box  cars.  I  obtained  the  necessary  re- 
quisition papers  from  the  Governors  of  Louisiana  and 
Oregon,  and  arrested  him  at  Ladales,  took  him  to  Portland 
(the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Willamette  River),  where 
I  took  passage  for  myself  and  prisoner  on  the  steamship 
Columbia  for  San  Francisco. 

There  was  no  one  on  the  steamer,  not  even  the  officers, 
who  knew  that  Poyneer  was  a  prisoner.  He  had  promised 
me  that  he  would  go  with  me  quietly  and  I  did  not  place 
him  in  irons.  I  could  not  have  hand-cuffed  him  with  any 
ordinary  hand-cuffs  for  the  reason  of  the  enormous  size 
of  his  wrists. 

After  we  had  left  Astoria  and  were  out  several  miles  on 
the  Pacific,  we  were  taking  a  walk  for  exercise  on  the  up- 


192 


FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 


per  oecK,  and  when  we  were  nearing  the  stern  end  of  the 
vessel,  and  there  were  no  other  passengers,  or  even  any 
sailors,  Poyneer  suddenly  seized  me  by  the  neck  and  body 
and  attempted  to  throw  me  over  the  rail  into  the  sea.     I 


Lawrence  Poyneer. 

The  giant  switchman  who  attempted  to  hurl  Furlong  from 

the  deck  of  an  ocean  steamer. 

grabbed  him  tightly  around  his  neck  and  under  one  of  his 
arms  so  tightly  that  he  could  not  shake  me  off.  I  lustily 
called  for  help  and  one  of  the  cabin  boys  heard  me,  gave 
the  alarm,  and  the  captain  and  officer  on  the  lookout  in 
front  of  the  vessel  came  rushing  to  my  assistance.     When 


TICKET  FORGERS  RUN  DOWN.  193 

he  heard  them  coming,  he  let  go  and  tried,  in  vain,  to  make 
it  appear  that  he  had  been  joking.  I  explained  the  situa- 
tion to  the  captain,  who  promptly  placed  Poyneer  in  irons 
and  placed  him  below  in  what  is  called  the  brig  in  a  ship, 
where  he  remained  until  we  arrived  in  San  Francisco. 
There  I  had  him  taken  to  the  city  jail,  where  I  kept  him  for 
two  or  three  days  until  I  had  gotten  thoroughly  rested.  I 
borrowed  a  set  of  irons  from  Chief  of  Police  Crowley, 
placed  these  irons  on  Poyneer,  and  took  him  on  board  a 
Southern  Pacific  Railroad  train,  and  in  due  time  lodged 
him  safely  in  the  Old  Parish  Prison  in  New  Orleans. 

He  was  tried,  convicted  and  sentenced  to  four  years  in 
prison  in  Baton  Rouge,  where  he  served  his  term  out. 
After  this  I  lost  track  of  him  until  about  ten  years  ago, 
just  before  the  Olive  Street  Cable  was  changed  to  an 
Electric  Street  Car  Line,  in  St.  Louis.  I  boarded  a  grip 
car  on  Olive  Street  one  morning,  and  to  my  surprise,  I 
recognized  Lawrence  Poyneer,  acting  as  gripman  on  the 
car  I  had  boarded.  Poyneer  recognized  me  on  sight,  but 
he  did  not  speak  and  seemed  to  be  very  much  confused.  I 
left  the  car  near  the  turning  point.  Later  I  was  informed 
that  "Jones"  had  left  his  grip  car  at  the  foot  of  Olive  Street 
that  morning.  "Jones"  was  the  name  that  Poyneer  had 
given  when  he  had  secured  the  position  from  the  company 
as  gripman  about  three  weeks  prior  to  my  having  recog- 
nized him.  He  left  St.  Louis  and  has  not  been  heard  from 
since,  to  my  knowledge. 


TICKET  FORGERS  RUN  DOWN. 

ARREST  OF  LOUIS  RICE  AND  TOM  LANDS  AFTER  A  LONG  CHASE — 
THE     FORGERS     ACQUIRED     ALMOST     A     FORTUNE. 

During  the  early  '80s  the  officials  of  the  passenger  de- 
partment  of   several   Western   trunk   lines   made   the   dis- 


194  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

covery  that  they  had  been  defrauded  out  of  thousands  of 
dollars  by  the  means  of  forged  railroad  tickets.  These  tick- 
ets had  been  distributed  or  put  on  the  market  by  ticket 
scalpers,  who  then  thrived  in  all  the  large  cities. 

These  tickets  were  gotten  up  on  what  appeared  to  be 
regular  paper  and  in  regular  form,  with  the  exception  of 
the  serial  and  form  numbers,  which  were  necessarily  dupli- 
cated. The  tickets  read  from  Boston,  New  York,  Chicago, 
Philadelphia  and  other  prominent  points  on  the  east  to 
the  principal  points  on  the  Pacific  Coast  in  the  west.  The 
forms  were  pronounced  perfect  and  the  signature  of  the 
various    railroad   officials   were   imitated   admirably   on   them. 

The  discovery  of  the  forgeries  were  first  made  by  one  of 
the  assistants  of  C.  G.  Warner,  general  auditor  of  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  Railroad  at  St.  Louis.  TTie  assistant  auditor 
discovered  the  forgeries,  he  having  noticed  the  numbers 
on  the  tickets  were  irregular. 

At  this  time  I  was  Chief  Special  Agent  for  the  Missouri 
Pacific,  and  the  case  was  placed  in  my  hands  for  investiga- 
tion, by  General  Auditor  Warner. 

After  a  lot  of  tedious  work,  the  details  of  which  would 
not  interest  the  reader,  I,  with  the  help  of  some  of  my  as- 
sistants, learned  that  Rice  and  Lands  were  railroad  ticket 
scalpers  and  had  offices  in  several  cities  in  the  middle  west, 
from  which  they  had  supplied  other  scalpers  with  large 
quantities  of  these  forged  tickets.  I  also  learned  that  Rice 
and  Lands  had  established  a  private  printing  office  in  a 
small  town  in  western  Illinois,  in  which  the  counterfeit  tick- 
ets were  printed ;  the  forms  of  which  had  been  arranged 
by  Rice,  who  had  been  a  chief  clerk  for  a  number  of  years 
for  a  General  Passenger  and  Ticket  Agent  of  one  of  the 
large   railroad   svstems   of  the   West,   and   was,   therefore, 


TICKET  FORGERS  RUN  DOWN.  195 

thoroughly  conversant  with  the  details  of  all  of  the  ticket 
business. 

Lands  was  a  crooked  lawyer,  who  had  married  into  an 
eminently  respectable  family  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  Rice 
was  a  single  man,  but  was  engaged  to  a  young  lady,  whose 
family  was  of  considerable  prominence.  He  was  also  of  a 
good  family  and  had  always  borne  an  excellent  reputation, 
and  was  considered  a  bright,  affable  young  business  man. 

After  learning  all  of  these  facts  and  reporting  them  to 
the  proper  officials  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  System,  I  was 
instructed  to  locate  and  arrest  Rice  and  Lands,  charging 
them  with  having  made  and  issued  the  counterfeit  railroad 
tickets.  I  had  but  little  trouble  in  locating  Lands,  but,  as 
I  considered  Rice  the  principal,  knowing  that  he  was  the 
man  who  had  gotten  up  the  forms  of  the  counterfeit  tickets, 
I  decided  to  quietly  place  Lands  under  surveillance,  by  one 
of  my  operatives,  and  then  took  up  the  search  for  Rice,  as 
I  desired  to  arrest  him  first,  being  very  sure  that  I  could 
apprehend  Lands  any  time  that  I  wanted  to  do  so. 

I  traced  Rice  from  Kansas  City  to  Denver,  Salt  Lake 
City,  San  Francisco  to  Portland,  Oregon,  but  lost  trace  of 
him  there,  and  after  consuming  several  days  with  no  re- 
sults, I  decided  to  return  to  St.  Louis,  and  to  visit  the 
town  in  Iowa  where  Rice's  betrothed  resided  with  her  par- 
ents, which  I  did. 

After  spending  several  days  near  the  home  of  this  young 
lady,  I  was  finally  rewarded  by  learning  the  alias  that  Rice 
had  assumed,  and  his  whereabouts  at  that  time,  and  I  im- 
mediately, as  the  traveling  men  say,  "doubled  back"  to  the 
Pacific  Coast,  boarding  a  steamship  at  San  Francisco  for 
Victoria,  B.  C,  and  from  there  went  overland  to  a  camp  in 
the  Kassiar  Mountains,  British  Columbia,  which  is  about 
357  miles  from  Victoria. 


196  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

On  arriving  there  I  learned  that  Rice  had  left  but  a  few 
days  before  my  arrival,  and  that  he  had  undoubtedly  passed 
me  on  my  way  to  Kassiar.  He  had  left  word  with  friends  there 
that  he  was  going  back  to  Portland,  Oregon.  He  had 
been  prospecting  in  the  mountains  for  gold  and  had  been 
unsuccessful,  and  had  exhausted  his  funds,  so  he  had  con- 
cluded to  go  back  to  Portland  and  seek  employment  there. 

I,  therefore,  returned  to  Victoria  and  boarded  a  vessel  for 
Seattle  and  from  there  I  went  to  Portland,  where  I  suc- 
ceeded in  locating  Rice.  He  was  working  as  a  day  laborer 
in  a  bed-spring  factory.  He  was  clad  in  a  suit  of  greasy 
overalls,  when  I  found  him,  needed  a  haircut  and  a  shave, 
and  did  not  in  any  vv^ay  resemble  the  dapper  and  stylishly 
dressed  Louis  Rice,  whose  photograph  I  had  in  my  pos- 
session. 

1  brought  Rice  back  to  St.  Louis,  and  while  en  route  he 
made  a  full  confession  to  me  as  to  his  and  Lands'  connec- 
tion with  the  counterfeit  tickets.  He  told  me  about  the 
printing  office  and  gave  me  the  names  of  various  scalpers 
throughout  the  country  who  were  engaged  with  them  in 
handling  the  bogus  tickets. 

On  arriving  in  St.  Louis  I  secured  a  lodging  house  for 
Rice  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  placed  him  there,  by  his 
consent,  in  charge  of  one  of  my  operatives.  I  did  this  so 
that  the  scalpers  who  were  in  collusion  with  the  fraudulent 
scheme  would  not  become  aware  of  his  capture  until  I 
would  have  time  to  arrange  for  indictments  and  arrest  all 
the  parties  connected  with  the  fraud.  I  also  wanted  to  ar- 
rest and  bring  Lands  to  St.  Louis  before  he  had  learned  his 
partner  was  in  custody,  and  proceeded  to  Indiana  and  took 
him  in  charge.  His  relatives,  who  were  well-known  and 
influential,  immediately  applied  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus, 
which  prevented  me  from  removing  Lands  from  the  state 


TICKET  FORGERS  RUN  DOWN.  197 

until  permitted  to  do  so  by  due  process  of  law. 

The  judge  before  whom  this  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was 
returnable  was  a  lifelong  personal  friend  of  the  family  of 
Lands'  wife,  and  the  judge,  therefore,  released  Lands  from 
custody  on  the  grounds  that  forged  railroad  tickets  had 
no  intrinsic  value. 

This  was  the  first  and  only  prisoner  that  I  have  ever  had 
released  by  such  a  procedure.  However,  Lands  was  sick 
at  the  time  of  his  arrest,  and  lingered  along  for  a  few 
months  after  his  rekase,  and  died,  which  was  the  ending 
of  his  part  of  the  crime. 

In  due  time  Rice's  trial  was  called  in  St.  Louis,  and  the 
judge  before  whom  the  case  was  tried  decided  the  same  in 
this  case  as  had  the  judge  in  Indiana  on  the  Lands  case; 
and,  therefore,  the  ticket  forgers  went  unpunished. 

The  state  laws  in  nearly  every  state  in  the  LTnion  have 
since  been  revised  so  as  to  make  the  forgery  of  railroad 
tickets  a  felony,  with  the  same  penalty  attached  as  that  of 
forging  any  other  document  or  valuable  paper. 

The  farcical  termination  of  the  case  also  caused  the  pas- 
sage of  laws  which  have  put  the  ticket  scalpers  out  of  busi- 
ness in  almost  the  entire  country.  Prior  to  that  time, 
every  city  of  any  size  was  infested  with  numerous  ticket 
scalping  offices.  The  men  engaged  in  the  business  were 
usually  of  the  unscrupulous  kind,  and  their  crookedness 
caused  the  railroads  no  little  amount  of  trouble. 

In  working  up  this  case  and  apprehending  Lands  and 
Rice.  I  personally  traveled,  in  all,  about  eighteen  thou- 
sand four  hundred  miles,  and  consumed  nearly  six  months' 
time,  did  a  lot  of  hard  work  and  incurred  considerable 
expense. 

I  will  say  here  that  the  attorneys  of  the  legal  depart- 
ment  for   the    Missouri    Pacific    Railroad    Company   were 


198  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

fully  advised  as  to  all  the  facts  connected  with  this  case 
and  they  advised  that  the  parties  be  located  and  appre- 
hended :  and  the  work  involved  in  the  location  and  arrest 
of  Rice  and  Lands  was  as  good  as  any  work  ever  done  by 
any  one  in  a  similar  case.  Under  the  laws  then  existing 
the  cases  of  Rice  and  Lands  could  not  be  reached. 

After  Rice's  final  release  he  went  to  the  state  of  Iowa, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  insurance  business.  He  was  suc- 
cessful and  finally  married  the  young  lady  he  was  engaged 
to,  and  when  last  heard  of  by  the  wriler,  was  a  prosperous 
general  insurance  agent,  raising  a  nice  family  and  re- 
spected in  the  community  in  which  he  lived. 


CONVICTION  OF  JOHN  COLLINS. 

HOW  THE  CLUES,   WHICH   LEAD  TO  THE  ARREST  OF  THE   YOUNG 
MAN  FOR  HIS  FATHER'S  MURDER,  WERE  OBTAINED — 
KANSAS*   MOST  SENSATIONAL  MURDER  CASE. 

No  crime  committed  in  the  West  in  recent  years  was 
surrounded  with  more  mystery  than  was  the  murder  of 
J.  S.  Collins,  which  occurred  in  Topeka,  Kansas,  in  the 
spring  of  1898.  Mr.  Collins  was  slain  while  asleep  beside 
his  wife  in  their  home.  The  weapon  used  was  a  shotgun, 
and  one  or  two  of  the  shot  struck  the  shoulder  of  the  wife, 
making  slight,  though  painful  wounds. 

The  murdered  man  had  been  a  prominent  insurance  and 
real  estate  man  of  the  Kansas  capitol,  where  he  had  lived 
for  many  years,  and  was  well  and  favorably  known  to  the 
citizens  of  that  city,  as  well  as  throughout  the  entire  state; 
in  fact,  he  was  considered  one  of  the  state's  most  promi- 
nent citizens.  At  the  time  of  his  murder  he  was  about  fifty-five 
years  of  age,  had  a  wife,  one  daughter  and  a  son,  John. 


CONVICTION  OF  JOHN  COLLINS.  199 

The  Collins'  occupied  a  comfortable  home  in  Topeka. 
John,  the  only  son,  was  a  student  at  the  State  University 
at  Lawrence,  Kansas,  where  he  was  being  prepared  for  the 
ministry.  He  had  been  a  student  at  Lawrence  for  two  or 
three  years  before  his  father's  murder.  He  boarded  at  tlie 
school  and  occasionally  visited  his  home  in  Topeka,  usually 
on  Sundays  and  holidays-  The  Collins  home,  which  was 
one  of  the  best  on  one  of  the  capitol's  most  prominent 
residential  thoroughfares,  was  disturbed  early  one  morning 
by  the  discharge  of  a  gun  in  the  sleeping  room  occupied  by 
Mr.  Collins  and  his  wife,  which  was  situated  on  the  ground 
floor.  Mr.  Collins  had  been  shot  and  died  instantly,  and 
his  wife,  as  stated  above,  received  one  or  two  grains  of 
coarse  shot  in  her  shoulder.  Other  occupants  of  the  house 
that  morning  were  Miss  Collins,  a  young  lady  about  eighteen 
years  of  age,  and  John  Collins,  Jr.  Both  of  them  oc- 
cupied rooms  on  the  second  floor  of  the  house.  There  was 
also  a  servant  girl  in  the  house.  It  was  in  the  early  part 
of  the  summer  and  the  windows  were  all  screened  with 
wire.  John,  apparently  aroused  by  the  shot  which  killed 
his  father,  dressed  himself  hastily  and  aroused  the  near- 
est neighbors.  It  was  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  but 
after  daylight. 

The  police  were  sent  for,  and  on  their  arrival  ascer- 
tained that  the  doors  of  the  house  were  all  intact  and  care- 
fully locked ;  but  a  window  screen  in  the  rear  of  the  house 
on  the  second  floor  was  found  to  have  been  cut,  leaving  a 
hole  large  enough'  for  the  passage  of  a  human  body.  This 
window  was  immediately  above  a  one-story  addition  to 
the  main  building  in  the  rear.  After  the  police  authorities 
had  finished  their  investigation  of  the  premises  they  ar- 
rived at  the  conclusion  that  the  murderer  must  have  en- 
tered the  house  by  means  of  a  key,  and  after  having  shot 


200  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

i\Ir.  Collins  escaped,  going  up  the  main  stairs  from  the 
lower  hall  to  the  second  floor  and  then  gone  to  the  hall  at 
the  end  of  which  they  found  the  window  before  described, 
had  cut  the  wire  screen  and  jumped  out  of  the  window 
onto  the  roof  of  the  one-story  addition,  and  then  to  the 
ground,  a  distance  of  about  ten  or  twelve  feet,  and  in  that 
way  made  his  escape. 

The  murder  created  a  great  sensation  by  reason  of  Mr. 
Collins'  high  standing  in  the  community.  A  number  of 
the  more  influential  citizens  of  Topeka  who  were  friends 
of  his,  formed  a  committee  for  the  purpose  of  locating  the 
murderer  and  causing  him,  or  them,  to  be  brought  to 
justice.  These  gentlemen  wired  me  at  St.  Louis,  asking 
me  to  come  to  Topeka  to  investigate  the  case.  I  went  to 
Topeka  at  once,  arriving  there,  if  I  remember  aright,  the 
third  day  after  the  murder  had  been  committed.  I  re- 
ported to  the  gentleman  who  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  at  once  began  my  investigation,  by  examining 
the  premises  at  which  the  murder  had  been  committed.  I 
interviewed  the  widow,  who,  by  the  way,  was  Mr.  Collins' 
second  wife,  her  step-daughter  and  step-son,  John  Collins. 
Mrs.  Collins  was  a  woman  between  thirty-six  and  forty 
years  of  age,  of  the  brunette  type,  rather  above  the  medium 
height  and  inclined  to  be  slender.  She  was  very  attrac- 
tive and  considered  a  good-looking  Vv^oman,  intelligent  and 
refined. 

Miss  Collins  was  also  above  the  medium  height,  nice- 
looking,  well  educated  and  intelligent. 

John  Collins  had  just  passed  his  twenty-first  birthday. 
Was  about  five  feet,  eight  or  nine  inches  tall,  light  brown 
hair,  fair  complexioned,  well  built,  pleasing  in  manner 
and  a  very  fine  looking  young  man. 


CONVICTION  OF  JOHN  COLLINS.  201 

After  I  had  consumed  about  four  days  in  my  investiga- 
tion, I  became  satisfied  in  my  own  mind  that  the  murder 
had  been  committed  by  some  person  who  belonged  in  the 
house,  and  that  the  house  had  not  been  entered  by  an  out- 
sider. I  had  discovered  that  Mr.  ColHns  had  been  killed 
with  his  own  shotgun,  a  high  priced  firearm,  which  he 
always  kept  in  a  leather  case,  and  usually  placed  on  the 
upper  shelf  of  a  clothes  closet  in  his  bedroom.  This  closet 
was  unusually  large  and  extended  from  the  floor  to  the 
ceiling.  The  ceiling  being  very  high,  an  ordinary  sized 
man  could  not  reach  the  shelf  where  the  gun  was  kept 
without  the  aid  of  a  step-ladder,  or  possibly  it  could  have 
been  reached  by  a  tall  person  while  standing  on  a  high 
table. 

Mr.  Collins  had  not  used  his  gun  for  months  before  the 
murder,  and  it  had  always  been  his  custom  after  using  the 
weapon  to  clean  it  thoroughly,  take  it  apart  and  pack  it  in 
the  case.  It  was,  therefore,  necessary  for  the  murderer  to 
take  this  gun  case  from  the  shelf,  put  it  together  and  load 
it  with  the  ammunition,  which  was  also  kept  on  the  high 
shelf.  All  of  this  could  not  have  been  accomplished  by 
any  outside  person  without  having  been  discovered  by 
some  one  of  the  inmates  of  the  house. 

I  also  learned  that  John  Collins  had  left  his  lodgings  at 
Lawrence  on  the  evening  preceding  the  murder,  going  to 
Topeka  and  directly  to  his  home,  where,  he  claimed,  he 
retired  for  the  night  at  an  early  hour.  He  also  claimed 
that  he  remained  there  until  aroused  by  the  shot  that 
killed  his  father.  I  also  learned  that  the  young  man  had 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  a  very  estimable  and  wealthy 
young  lady  at  Lawrence,  with  whom  he  had  become  in- 
fatuated. He  had  paid  much  attention  to  her  for  months, 
and  finally  she  had  informed  him  that  her  mother  had  de- 


202 


FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 


cided  to  purchase  or  lease  a  cottage  at  Long  Branch,  in 
which  to  spend  the  summer  months.  I  surmised  that  when 
he  learned  that  she  intended  to  accompany  her  mother  to 
Long  Branch  for  the  summer,  young  CoITTns  decided  that 
his  sweetheart  was  liable  to  meet  some  of  the  manv  for- 


J.  S.  Manning. 

Superintendent  of  the  St.  Louis  Office  of  the  Furlong  Secret  Service 
Company  who  did  some  clever  work  on  the  Collins  case. 

tune  hunters  who  frequent  the  resort  during  the  summer 
months,  thus  endangering  his  chances  of  winning  her,  so 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  arrange,  if  pos- 
sible, to  spend  the  season  at  Long  Branch  too,  so  that  he 


CONVICTION  OF  JOHN  COLLINS.  203 

might  guard  the  affections  of  his  good-looking,  or  I  might 
truthfully  say,  beautiful  young  lady  friend. 

The  elder  Mr.  Collins  had  been  considered  to  be  more 
wealthy  than  he  really  was  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
had  met  with  financial  reverses,  and  really  had  but  little 
more  than  his  home  in  Topeka  when  he  was  murdered, 
but  he  was  carrying  thirty  thousand  dollars  insurance  on 
his  life,  ten  thousand  to  his  wife  and  ten  thousand  to  each 
of  his  children. 

Having  secured  the  above  information  I  sent  one  of  my 
operatives,  J.  S.  Manning,  to  Lawrence,  Kansas,  with  in- 
structions to  quietly  ascertain  all  that  he  could  as  to  the 
habits  of  the  young  man  Collins  and  his  associates.  Mr. 
Manning's  investigation  there  developed  that  young  Col- 
lins had  been  spending  considerable  money  in  buying  flow- 
ers, carriage  hire  and  entertainments.  He  had  no  means 
of  defraying  these  expenses  other  than  twenty-five  dollars 
a  month  allowed  him  by  his  father  for  that  purpose.  Mr. 
Manning  also  learned  that  there  were  a  couple  of  colored 
hack  drivers  in  Lawrence,  who  had  been  patronized  by 
the  younger  Collins.  Upon  receipt  of  this  information 
from  Mr.  Manning,  I  sent  D.  F.  Harbaugh,  who  was  then 
in  my  employ,  to  Lawrence.  Mr.  Harbaugh  had  lived  in 
Lawrence,  Kansas,  for  a  number  of  years  before  he  en- 
tered my  service.  He  had  been  in  the  livery  business 
there,  and  had  been  a  hack  driver.  He  was  personally 
acquainted  with  the  colored  drivers  before  mentioned,  but 
these  men  did  not  know  that  he  was  in  the  secret  service 
work.  For  this  reason  Mr.  Harbaugh  found  it  easy  to 
find  out  everything  that  the  hack  drivers  knew  about  John 
Collins.  After  renewing  their  acquaintance  Harbaugh 
learned  from  them  that  Collins  had  approached  them  and 
entered  into  a  verbal  contract  to  kill  his  father  for  a  cer- 


204  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

tain  sum  of  money,  part  of  which  he  had  paid  at  the  time 
the  agreement  was  made,  he  agreeing  to  pay  the  balance 
after  the  murder  had  been  committed. 

They  told  Harbaugh  that  they  had  no  intention  of  at- 
tempting to  murder  Mr.  Collins,  but  had  promised  John 
they  would  do  so  to  work  him  for  what  money  they  could 
get  out  of  him,  knowing,  as  they  did,  that  he  dare  not  ex- 
pose them  when  they  failed  to  carry  out  their  agreement. 
The  murder  was  to  have  been  committed  on  or  before  a 
certain  date.  The  date  passed  and  ]\Ir.  Collins  still  lived, 
whereupon,  John  became  anxious  and  expostulated  with 
the  colored  drivers.  They  told  him  that  they  were  entitled 
to  more  money  than  what  he  had  agreed  to  pay  them,  and 
he  gave  them  an  additional  one  hundred  dollars,  as  well 
as  a  gold  watch  his  father  had  presented  to  him  on  his 
twenty-first  birthday.  This  money  young  Collins  had  se- 
cured by  borrowing  from  his  friends  and  through  drafts 
he  had  drawn  on  his  father,  as  we  afterwards  learned. 
There  was  then  another  date  set  for  the  murder  to  be 
comm.itted  by  the  hack  drivers.  When  that  day  arrived 
and  passed  young  Collins  again  remonstrated  with  the 
drivers  for  not  having  carried  out  their  agreement,  and 
they  coolly  informed  him  that  they  had  concluded  that  if 
his  father  had  to  be  killed  that  he  had  better  do  the  killing 
himself,  that  they  positively  would  not  commit  the  crime, 
and  that  they  had  never  intended  to  do  so.  Learning  this, 
young  Collins  became  desperate  and  left  LaAvrence  and 
went  to  Topeka,  as  before  stated,  and  without  doubt 
killed  his  father  with  his  own  gun. 
.  When  this  evidence  was  obtained  I  reported  it  to  the 
gentlemen  who  had  employed  me,  and  they  then  decided 
to  hand  my  report  over  to  the  prosecuting  attorney  at 
Lawrence,     A.t  the  request  of  the  prosecuting  attorney  the 


CONVICTION  OF  JOHN  COLLINS.  205 

county  commissioners  at  Topeka  employed  me  to  complete, 
the  evidence,  so  that  Collins  might  be  arrested  and  prose- 
cuted for  the  murder  of  his  father. 

John  Collins  was  immediately  arrested,  placed  in  jail 
without  bond,  and  in  due  time  the  case  came  to  trial.  The 
trial  caused  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  the  community,  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  the  elder  Mr.  Collins  was  so  well 
known,  and  the  killing  had  been  done  in  such  a  mysterious 
manner.  The  trial  attracted  great  attention  throughout 
the  entire  country.  All  of  the'  leading  western  papers  had 
special  reporters  present,  and  all  the  sensational  features 
were  "played  up"  (as  newspaper  men  call  it)  as  they  de- 
veloped. The  court  room  was  crowded,  and  many  noted 
lawyers  were  also  in  attendance  to  watch  the  legal  battle, 
which  at  times  waxed  very  warm,  as  all  the  counsel  on 
both  sides  were  very  able  men.  Prosecuting  Attorney  Jet- 
more  was  at  his  best,  making  one  of  the  greatest  fights  I 
ever  saw  to  get  his  evidence  before  the  jury.  Among  the 
spectators  during  almost  the  entire  trial  was  the  late  Jus- 
tice Brewer,  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  at  Wash- 
ington, who  was  visiting  his  daughter,  who  was  the  wife 
of  the  prosecuting  attorney,  Mr.  Jetmore,  in  Topeka  at  the 
time  the  trial  was  on.  At  the  close  of  the  case  Mr.  Justice 
Brewer  complimented  me  very  highly  for  my  work  in 
solving  the  mystery. 

During  the  trial  a  great  many  people  got  the  idea  that  I 
had  been  employed  by  the  insurance  companies,  believing 
that  the  companies  were  trying  to  avoid  payment  of  the 
thirty  thousand  dollars  insurance,  by  proving  that  the  son 
had  killed  his  father.  This  opinion  was  erroneous.  The 
people  who  employed  me  in  this  case  were  citizens  of  To- 
peka and  lodge  friends  of  the  murdered  man,  and  were  in 
no  way  connected  with  the  insurance  companies  interested 


206  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

in  the  case,  and  were  merely  acting  as  good  and  law  abid- 
ing citizens,  and  just  as  soon  as  I  had  satisfied  them  that 
John  Collins  was  the  murderer,  they  immediately  turned 
the  evidence,  as  far  as  had  been  obtained,  over  to  the 
proper  state  authorities. 

The  trial  lasted  more  than  a  week.  Collins  was  defend- 
ed by  two  of  the  most  prominent  attorneys  at  that  bar. 
They  labored  earnestly  and  to  the  best  of  their  ability  to 
clear  him,  but  he  was  found  guilty  of  murder  and  sent  to 
the  state  prison  to  await  the  governor's  action  in  fixing  the 
date  of  his  execution ;  but,  in  as  much  as  it  has  always  been 
the  custom  in  Kansas  for  the  governor  to  never  fix  the  date 
for  execution  of  a  person  found  guilty  of  murder,  the 
prisoners  are  usually  kept  in  the  prison,  and  a  sentence  of 
death  in  Kansas  usually  means  a  life  term  in  the  peni- 
tentiary. 

There  has  been  an  efifort  made  by  friends  of  young  Col- 
lins and  the  family  to  obtain  a  pardon  for  him,  but  up  to 
this  writing  I  understand  it  has  been  unavailing. 

I  will  say  here  that  the  colored  hack  drivers,  before 
mentioned,  from  Lawrence,  took  the  witness  stand  for 
the  state  against  John  Collins,  and  produced  the  watch 
that  he  had  given  them,  which  had  been  presented  to  him 
by  the  elder  Mr.  Collins  upon  the  anniversary  of  John's 
2ist  birthday.  This  watch,  with  the  testimony  of  the  col- 
ored hack  drivers,  in  which  they  detailed  the  contract  the}^ 
had  made  with  the  younger  Collins,  all  of  which  was  cor- 
roborated by  circumstances  that  were  not,  or  could  not  be, 
contradicted,  led  to  the  conviction  of  the  son  for  the 
murder  of  his  father. 


FRED  ERFERT'S  FALL  FROM  GRACE. 

A  TRUSTED  EMPLOYEE   OF  A  JEWELRY  FIRM  ROBS  HIS  BENEFAC- 
TOR  QUICK   CAPTURE  OF  THE  THIEF  AND 

RECOVERY  OF  THE  LOOT. 

The  arrest  of  Fred  Erfert,  who  had  been  a  trusted  clerk 
in  the  jewelry  house  of  John  Bolland  &  Company,  of  St. 
Louis,  occurred  in  the  latter  part  of  1892. 

Erfert  had  been  employed  by  the  company  since  his  boy- 
hood. At  the  time  of  his  arrest  he  was  about  twenty-two 
or  three  years  of  age,  and  had  become  a  trusted  employe, 
and  carried  the  keys  of  the  establishment  He  was  the 
first  man  to  open  the  store  in  the  morning,  and  the  last 
man  out  at  night,  closing  and  locking  the  store  himself. 

The  firm  was  rated  among  the  first  establishments  ot 
the  kind  in  the  city,  and  was  doing  a  large  business.  A 
large  quantity  of  valuable  goods  were  mysteriously  disap- 
pearing and  could  not  be  accounted  for,  and  finally  the 
manager,  Mr.  Clarence  White,  called  at  my  office  one  af- 
ternoon, and  stated  the  facts  in  the  case  as  he  knew  them. 
He  stated,  further,  that  Mr.  Bolland  had  requested  him  to 
come  and  see  me  and  tell  me  of  the  state  of  affairs,  and 
ask  me  to  take  the  matter  under  advisement,  and  that  Mr. 
Bolland  would  call  on  me  the  following  day  for  a  confer- 
ence, which  he  did. 

Mr.  Bolland  stated  to  me  that  they  had  been  missing 
goods  from  time  to  time  for  the  past  two  years  or  more 
and  that  these  losses  had  grown  to  alarming  proportions. 
In  an  effort  to  clear  up  the  mystery  he  had  secured  the 
services  of  another  local  private  detective  agency,  at  a  con- 
siderable expense,  but  who  apparently  had  not  been  able  to 
fasten  the  numerous  thefts  on  any  person.  He  further 
stated  that  the  losses  seemed  to  be  increasing,  and  that  he 


208  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

would  like  to  have  me  make  an  investigation  and  appre- 
hend the  guilty  party,  or  parties,  if  possible.  He  said 
that  in  view  of  the  amount  of  money  he  had  already  spent 
in  attempting  to  locate  the  thief  he  did  not  feel  as  though 
he  was  justified  in  spending  much  more  money,  but  he 
wanted  me  to  make  an  investigation  and  see  what  I  could 
do.  He  stated  that  he  had  also  consulted  the  Police  De- 
partment of  the  city,  but  they  had  failed  to  apprehend  the 
thief.  Mr.  Bolland  instructed  me  to  proceed  at  once,  say- 
ing that  he  did  not  believe  that  they  had  any  one  in  their 
employ  who  was  dishonest  or  disloyal,  to  which  I  an- 
swered, "It  is  evident  to  me,  Mr.  Bolland,  that  you  believe 
all  of  your  employes  to  be  honest  and  faithful,  or  you,  of 
course,  would  not  have  them  in  your  employ."  Mr.  Bol- 
land replied,  "You  need  not  spend  any  time  in  looking  af- 
ter Clarence  White,  Fred  Erfert  or  (laughingly)  myself, 
but  you  may  use  your  own  judgment  as  to  the  other  em- 
ployes, although  I  want  you  to  understand  that  I  have  the 
utmost  confidence  in  all  of  them. 

A  short  time  before  this  interview  took  place,  the  Bol- 
land company  had  purchased  a  large  stock  of  jewelry  at 
Sixth  and  Locust  Streets,  at  a  bankrupt  sale.  On  pur- 
chasing this  stock  the  Bolland  Company  sorted  out  the 
most  desirable  parts,  which  they  removed  to  their  own 
store,  and  then  culled  out  from  the  stock  in  the  main  store, 
stuff  that  was  growing  stale,  and  placed  it  with  the  bank- 
rupt stock.  They  then  started  to  auction  off  the  surplus 
stock.  They  placed  Erfert  in  charge  of  this  auction  store, 
with  a  number  of  clerks  and  a  professional  auctioneer. 
This  auction  was  running  full  blast  at  the  time  of  my  in- 
terview with  Mr.  Bolland. 

Mr.  Bolland  stated  to  me  that  goods  were  also  being 
missed  from  the  auction  store,  as  w^ell  as  from  their  regu- 


FRED  ERFERT'S  FALL  FROM  GRACE.         209 

lar  store.  So  the  following  day  I  instructed  one  of  my  oper- 
atives to  carefully  observe  all  that  he  could  about  the 
auction  store,  from  the  time  the  store  opened  in  the  morn- 
ing until  it  was  closed  at  night,  which  the  operative  did. 
After  he  had  spent  the  first  day  at  the  auction  store  the 
operative  reported  to  me  that  he  had  noticed  a  number 
of  what  appeared  to  him  to  be  irregularities,  especially 
on  the  part  of  Erfert,  the  manager  of  the  place.  He  re- 
ported that  on  the  evening  of  his  first  day  on  the  job  he 
had  seen  Erfert  and  the  other  clerks  leave  the  store.  Er- 
feft,  being  the  last  man  out,  locked  the  door,  put  the  key 
in  his  pocket,  and  the  whole  party  walked  to  the  corner 
of  6th  and  Olive  Streets,  where  they  separated,  taking 
different  cars  presumably  for  their  homes.  He  said  that 
Erfert,  however,  did  not  take  a  car,  but  walked  west  a  block 
on  Olive  Street  to  7th  Street,  then  north  on  7th  Street  to 
Locust  Street,  and  east  on  Locust  Street  to  the  side  en- 
trance of  the  auction  store,  where  he  unlocked  the  door, 
entered  the  store  and  immediately  returned  to  the  side- 
walk carrying  a  couple  of  large  and  heavy  packages,  which 
were  fastened  with  shawl-straps.  He  then  went  back  by 
the  same  route  to  6th  and  Locust,  where  he  boarded  a  car 
and  carried  these  two  heavy  packages,  one  in  each  hand, 
to  his  home  in  South  St.  Louis,  where  he  resided  with  his 
widowed  mother  and  his  sister.  He  entered  the  dwelling 
with  these  packages. 

On  learning  this,  I  told  the  operative  to  carry  out  my 
mstructions  on  the  previous  day,  telling  him  that  in  case 
Erfert  doubled  back  on  that  evening  after  closing  the 
store,  and  repeated  the  actions  of  the  previous  evening, 
that  after  he  had  emerged  from  the  store  the  second  time, 
as  he  had  the  night  before,  the  operative  should  then  ap- 
proach him  and  say  to  him  that  I  was  in  my  office  in  the 


210  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Chemical  Building  and  wanted  to  see  him  at  once,  and  to 
bring  him  up  without  delay.  I  remained  in  the  office  that 
evening,  so  as  to  be  on  hand  in  case  Erfert  repeated  his 
actions  of  the  previous  evening,  and  that  is  what  he  did. 

It  was  in  the  winter  time  and  dark  about  5  :30  p.  m., 
when  Erfert  closed  and  locked  the  store  and  left  the  other 
emplo3^es,  ap^^arently  starting  for  home.  He  accompanied 
the  others,  as  he  had  the  night  before,  to  6th  and  Olive, 
then  left  them,  they  going  home  and  he  making  a  circuit- 
ous route,  the  same  as  the  night  before,  and  went  back 
to  the  store,  letting  himself  in,  and  emerging  almost  im- 
mediately again,  carrying  two  heavy  packages,  heavier  than 
those  he  had  taken  the  night  previous,  and  fastened  with 
the  shawl-straps.  After  he  had  locked  the  door  and  had 
picked  up  the  packages,  which  seemed  very  heavy,  my 
operative  approached  him  unobserved,  and  touched  him 
on  the  shoulder,  saying,  "Mr.  Furlong  is  at  his  office  in 
the  Chemical  Building  and  wants  you  to  come  over  and 
see  him  at  once." 

Erfert  replied,  "What  does  he  want  to  see  me  for?" 

The  operative  said,  "I  do  not  know.  He  will  explain  that 
when  he  sees  you." 

Erfert  replied,  "I  am  in  a  hurry  and  haven't  time.  I'm 
late  anyway,  and  will  call  and  see  him  tomorrow." 

The  operative  said,  "You  can  either  go  with  me  right 
now  and  see  Mr.  Furlong,  or  I  will  call  the  policeman 
(pointing  to  a  policeman  who  happened  to  be  standing 
diagonally  across  the  street  from  where  they  were)  and 
have  him  take  you  to  police  headquarters,  and  probably 
Mr.  Furlong  will  go  there  and  see  you.  Now  it  is  up  to 
you.  If  I  take  you  to  police  headquarters  your  name  and 
picture  will  appear  in  the  papers  in  the  morning  and  you 
will  probably  get  a  lot  of  undesirable  notoriety," 


FRED  ERFERT'S  FALL  FROM  GRACE.  211 

"I  don't  want  any  notoriety,"  replied  Erfert,  "but  I  can't 
understand  what  Mr.  Furlong  wants  to  see  me  for  tonight. 
However,  I  will  go  with  you,  but  I  will  put  these  packages 
in  the  store." 

The  operative  said,  "No,  take  these  packages  with  you. 
What  is  in  them?" 

Erfert  replied,  "I  have  two  fine  clocks  that  were  sent 
over  to  my  store  by  mistake  and  are  too  expensive  to  sell 
at  auction,  and  I  intend  to  take  them  back  to  the  main 
store,  where  they  belong." 

"Well,"  said  the  operative,  "you  take  them  up  to  Mr. 
Furlong's  office,  and  after  you  have  seen  him  he  will  prob- 
ably allow  you  to  take  them  to  the  main  store." 

The  operative  brought  Erfert  to  my  office,  packages  and 
all.  I  had  known  Erfert  since  his  boyhood,  and  on  his 
entering  the  office  I  took  him  into  my  private  office. 

Here  I  will  say  that  on  the  second  day  I  had  put  another 
operative  to  work  on  this  case,  unknown  to  the  first  oper- 
ative, who  had  been  shadowing  the  first  operative  and  had 
witnessed  everything  that  had  occurred,  and  had  reached 
the  office  a  few  minutes  ahead  of  the  first  operative  and 
Erfert,  so  that  I  was  fully  aware  of  all  that  had  occurred. 

When  we  were  seated  in  my  private  room,  I  said  to  Er- 
fert, "Fred,  what  have  you  in  those  two  packages?" 

He  answered,  "They  are  two  clocks,  which  were  sent 
over  to  the  auction  store  by  mistake.  They  are  expensive 
clocks  and  I  will  not  sell  them  at  auction,  and  intended 
to  take  them  home  tonight  and  return  them  to  the  mam 
store  in  the  morning,  before  I  opened  the  auction  store." 

"What  other  stock  have  you  on  your  person  which  was 
sent  over  to  the  auction  store  by  mistake?"  I  asked. 

He  replied,  "I  have  only  a  few  stick  pins,  and  a  few  other 
small  articles  of  jewelry." 


212  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

I  said,  "Put  them  on  my  desk." 

He  did  so,  and  the  articles  that  he  had  concealed  in  his 
pockets,  according  to  the  prices  marked  on  them,  amounted 
in  all  to  nearly  four  hundred  dollars.  There  were  gold  rings, 
stick  pins,  and  other  small  pieces  of  good  jewelry.  Think- 
ing that  possibly  he  had  not  emptied  his  pocket,  I  inspected 
them  myself.  I  found  a  memorandum  book,  in  which  he  had 
kept  an  accurate  account  of  all  articles  that  had  been  taken 
from  the  jewelry  company,  the  cost  price  of  each  article  to 
the  company,  and  the  price  he  had  received  for  a  large  lot 
of  articles  that  had  already  been  disposed  of.  This  book 
was  written  in  cipher.  I  also  found  a  key  to  a  safe  de- 
posit vault  that  he  had  in  some  safe  deposit  company. 

I  then  informed  him  that  thousands  of  dollars'  worth 
of  stuff  had  been  stolen  from  his  employers,  that  he  had 
been  practically  raised  by  them,  having  been  in  their  ser- 
vice nearly  all  his  life,  and  that  the  company  had  always 
treated  him  well  and  justly ;  all  of  which  he  admitted,  and 
that  now,  as  he  had  been  caught  red-handed,  I  thought 
that  it  was  his  duty,  and  to  his  interest,  to  tell  the  whole 
truth  as  to  what  he  had  taken,  and  do  all  in  his  power  to  re- 
turn as  much  of  the  property  as  possible. 

At  this  time  my  office  was  on  the  fourteenth  floor  of  the 
Chemical  Building.  My  private  office  fronted  on  Olive  Street, 
and  Erfert  made  a  sudden  lunge  for  the  window  and  at- 
tempted to  jump  out.  I  prevented  him  from  doing  this,  and 
after  talking  to  him  for  a  few  moments,  he  admitted  that 
he  had  been  stealing  from  the  company  for  the  past  two 
years.  Recently  he  had  been  assisted  by  another  of  the 
employes.  His  grandfather  was  conducting^  a  jewelry  and 
novelty  store  in  South  St.  Louis,  and  nearly  all  the  stock 
in  this  store  had  been  stolen  by  himself  and  his  confeder- 
ate from  the  Bolland  establishment.     He  also  stated  that 


FRED  ERFERT'S  FALL  FROM  GRACE.         213 

he  had  a  quantity  of  the  stolen  property  concealed  in  the 
attic  of  his  mother's  house,  where  he  lived,  and  agreed  that 
he  would  go  with  one  of  my  men  at  once  and  deliver  all 
the  stolen  goods  that  he  could  to  me,  and  he  faithfully  kept 
his  word.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  statement,  I  sent  a 
messenger  to  Mr.  Bolland,  telling  him  that  I  wished  him 
to  come  to  my  office  at  once,  as  I  had  succeeded  in  captui- 
ing  the  culprit.  (It  should  be  remembered  that  the  above 
all  took  place  on  the  second  day  that  I  was  working  on 
the  case). 

Mr.  Bolland  arrived  at  my  office  about  ten  o'clck,  ac- 
companied by  his  wife  and  Clarence  White.  I  met  them 
in  the  front  office. 

Mr.  Bolland  said,  "The  messenger  told  me  that  you  had 
captured  the  party  who  has  been  robbing  us." 

I  said,  "Yes,  that  is  why  I  sent  for  you." 

"Whom  have  you  caught?"  he  asked. 

I  replied,  "Fred  Erfert  is  the  principal  party." 

Mrs.  Bolland  and  White  simultaneously  exclaimed,  "Why 
you  have  surely  made  a  mistake." 

Mr.  Bolland  said,  "I  told  you  not  to  bother  with  Erfert; 
that  I  believed  he  was  all  right." 

At  this  juncture  White  (using  a  slang  phrase)  "butted 
in,"  and  said,  "Why,  Furlong,  you  have  got  your  foot  in  it 
sure.  Erfert  surely  had  nothing  to  do  with  these  thefts,  and 
you  have  made  a  great  mistake  by  even  accusing  him.  He 
has  been  practically  raised  by  Mr.  Bolland  and  in  his  serv- 
ice for  many  years,  and  we've  always  had  implicit  con- 
fidence in  his  honesty." 

I  replied,  "Yes,  I  understand  all  of  that;  but  Mr.  Bolland 
employed  me  to  apprehend  the  party,  or  parties,  who  were 
robbing  him,  which  I  have  done.  Erfert  knows  that  he  is 
guilty  and  he  has  fully  admitted  his  guilt,  and  I  am  satisfied 


214  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

from  the  evidence  that  I  have  found  on  his  person  that  he 
told  the  truth  when  he  said  he  was  guilty.  I,  of  course, 
realize  Mr.  Bolland's  disappointment  in  finding  that  Erfert 
was  the  guilty  person,  but  I  cannot  help  his  feelings.  I 
have  simply  done  my  duty  in  the  matter,  and  now  it  re- 
mains with  Mr.  Bolland  as  to  what  shall  be  done  with  Er- 
fert." 

"Where  is  Erfert?"  Mr.  Bolland  asked. 

I  pointed  to  my  private  ofifice  and  said,  "He  is  there  and 
waiting  to  see  you.  He  has  promised  me  that  he  will  tell 
you  what  he  has  already  told  my  assistant  and  myself,  and 
that  he  would  at  once  return  a  considerable  quantity  of  the 
stolen  property  to  you,  which  I  have  advised  him  to  do." 

I  then  conducted  them  to  the  private  room  where  Erfert 
reiterated  the  statement  that  he  had  made  to  me.  He 
admitted  everything.  Then  I,  with  some  of  my  assistants, 
immediately  procured  a  hack  and  went  with  Erfert  to  his 
mother's  house,  where  we  found  about  two  hack  loads  of 
stolen  goods,  consisting  of  clocks,  silver  plate,  fine  um- 
brellas, and  various  articles  of  bric-a-brac,  all  valuable  stuff. 

I  had  these  goods  hauled  direct  to  the  Bolland  store. 
We  then  visited  the  store  of  the  grandfather,  in  South 
St.  Louis  and  recovered  about  four  hack  loads  of  goods 
from  there.  By  the  time  we  had  hauled  the  last  load  away 
from  there  it  was  nearly  daylight. 

While  this  loot  was  being  removed  from  Erfert's  house, 
by  Erfert  himself  and  two  of  my  assistants,  I  was  stand- 
ing outside  guarding  the  hack  into  which  the  goods  were 
l)eing  placed.  A  police  ofificer  came  along.  He  knew  me 
and  was  somewhat  surprised  to  see  me  at  that  time  of 
night  in  that  locality,  and  asked  me,  in  a  friendly  manner, 
what  I  was  doing  there.  I  told  him  that  there  had  been 
some  stuff  stolen  from  a  jewelry  store,  and  that  it  had 


FRED  ERFERT'vS  FALL  FROM  GRACE.         215 

been  taken  to  this  house,  and  I  thought  it  advisable  to 
remove  the  goods  after  night  so  as  not  to  attract  the  at- 
tention of  the  neighborhood,  as  I  felt  sure  that  the  women  of 
the  family  were  not  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  property 
which  had  been  placed  in  their  house  had  been  stolen. 

The  policeman  later  reported  having  met  me  and  what  I  had 
told  him,  to  his  captain  at  the  Soulard  Street  Station,  and, 
of  course,  this  report  reached  the  Chief  of  Police  Harrigan, 
the  following  morning.  Whereupon,  the  chief  became  ex- 
asperated and  ordered  the  policeman  suspended  immediate- 
ly, assigning  the  reason  for  so  doing  the  fact  that  the  officer 
had  not  arrested  the  hack-driver  and  myself.  He  also  sus- 
pended one  or  two  of  the  officers  connected  with  the  sta- 
tion who  were  on  duty  that  night. 

The  next  morning,  about  ten  o'clock,  a  city  detective  called 
on  me  at  my  office  and  said  to  me,  "I  have  been  sent  down 
by  the  chief  to  see  you.  The  chief  understands  that  you 
arrested  a  young  fellow  by  the  name  of  Erfert  last  night, 
and  that  you  recovered  a  lot  of  stolen  property.  Is  this  re- 
port true?" 

"Part  of  the  report  seems  to  be  true,  while  the  larger 
part  is  not  true,"  I  replied.  "You  know,  and  the  chief 
should  know,  that  I  have  no  legal  right  to  make  arrests, 
and  therefore,  I  have  made  no  arrest,  nor  have  I  caused 
any  to  be  made  within  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  but  I  did  re- 
cover a  large  quantity  of  stolen  goods  last  night  and  early 
this  morning.    "I  have  delivered  them  to  the  owner." 

"Where  is  Erfert  now?"  he  asked. 

I  replied,  "I  do  not  know  where  Erfert  is  at  tKe  present 
time.     Why  do  you  want  to  know  this?" 

"Because  the  chief  instructed  me  to  come  down  here 
and  get  him,  and  bring  him  to  headquarters  at  once,"  he 
said. 


216  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

"Have  you  any  charges  against  him  at  headquarters?" 
I  asked. 

"I  don't  know,"  he  replied.  "All  I  know  is  that  the  chief 
sent  me  down  here  to  get  him  and  bring  him  to  head- 
quarters." 

I  said,  "I  do  not  know  whether  there  will  be  any  charges 
perferred  against  Erfert  or  not.  His  employer  seems  in- 
clined to  sympathize  with  him  and  more  especially  with 
his  family.  I  do  not  believe  that  he  cares  to  have  him 
prosecuted  for  these  thefts.  I  expect  Erfert  to  call  at  my 
ofifice  some  time  during  the  forenoon,  and  I  am  looking 
for  Mr.  Bolland  here  at  any  moment.  When  Erfert  comes 
I  will  tell  him  that  the  chief  wants  to  see  him." 

The  detective  said,  "No,  you  need  not  do  that.  I  will 
wait  here  and  when  he  comes  I  will  take  him  up  with  me." 

I  turned  to  him  and  said  slowly,  "If  Erfert  calls  at  this 
office  while  you  are  here,  and  if  you  have  a  warrant  for  his 
arrest,  charging  him  with  any  crime,  you  may  take  him 
to  headquarters ;  but,  unless  you  have  a  warrant,  I  will  not 
permit  you  to  take  him  out  of  this  office.  I  think,  per- 
haps, you  had  better  go  and  communicate  this  to  the 
chief." 

This  city  detective  and  myself  had  been  friends  for  a 
number  of  years  prior  to  this  occurrence,  and  I  must  say 
that  I  did  not  like  the  idea  of  him  coming  to  my  office  and 
attempting  to  have  me  admit  to  him  that  I  had  violated 
the  law  by  having  unlawfully  detained  a  citizen,  thereby 
laying  myself  liable  to  prosecution.  However,  not  having 
violated  the  law,  I  felt  perfectly  safe.  I  knew  that  the  chief 
was  over-anxious  to  make  me  trouble  as  he  had  made 
others  in  my  line  of  business  in  the  past. 

The  detective  left  my  office  and  went  to  report  to  his 
chief.    In  the  meantime  Air.  Bolland  came  to  my  office  and 


FRED  ERFERT'S  FALL  FROM  GRACE.    217 

I  told  him  of  the  visit  of  the  city  detective  and  what  had 
been  said.  Mr.  Bolland  said  that  he  did  not  care  to  prose- 
cute Erfert ;  in  fact,  preferred  not  to  do  so,  but,  as  the 
police  had  the  right  to  prosecute  the  case,  he  was  really  un- 
decided as  to  what  was  the  best  course  to  pursue. 

I  advised  Mr.  Bolland  to  quietly  take  Erfert  up  to  po- 
lice headquarters  and  tell  the  chief  what  he  had  said  to 
me,  as  it  occurred  to  me  in  all  probability  the  chief  would 
insist  on  having  Erfert  prosecuted. 

Mr.  Bolland  accompanied  Erfert  to  police  headquarters, 
where  the  chief  and  the  detective  who  had  called  at  my  of- 
fice took  charge  of  him  and  put  him  through  a  series  of 
questions,  which  were  principally  concerning  what  Fur- 
long had  done.  They  tried  to  make  him  say  that  Furlong 
had  arrested  him  and  forced  him  to  make  a  confession  of 
the  thefts,  and  Erfert  afterwards  told  me  that  they  never 
did  ask  him  whether  or  not  he  was  guilty  of  having  robbed 
his  employer.  They  bent  their  efforts  to  try  and  make  a 
criminal  case  against  me,  and  had  gone  so  far  as  to  pre- 
pare a  statement,  which  they  urged  Erfert  to  sign,  de- 
claiming that  I  had  violated  the  law,  instead  of  Erfert, 
b}'  having  arrested  him  and  then  forcing  him  to  make  the 
statement  admitting  his  guilt,  all  of  which  would  have 
been  a  violation  of  the  law  on  my  part.  Erfert  refused  to 
sign  this  statement  on  the  ground  that  it  was  untrue.  I 
will  state  right  here  that  the  foregoing  is  a  sample  of  how 
criminal  cases  were  handled  at  police  headquarters  about 
that  time.  However,  all  these  efforts  were  in  vain,  as  Er- 
fert truthfully  replied  to  every  one  of  their  questions.  He 
told  them  that  I  had  explained  to  him  in  the  beginning  of 
our  interview  that  I  had  no  legal  right  to  arrest  him,  and 
that  I  had  advised  him  that  it  was  optional  with  him 
whether  or  not  he  returned  the  stolen  goods,  but  that  if 


218  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

he  did  not  stay  with  me  and  help  me  that  it  would  be  my 
duty  to  turn  him  over  to  the  police,  and  he  then  would  be 
written  up  in  the  newspapers  and  would  get  a  lot  of  un- 
desirable notoriety  that  he  wished  to  avoid. 

The  chief  became  very  much  exasperated  with  Erfert's 
statement,  by  which  he  could  make  no  case  against  me. 
However,  he  later  made  a  complaint  himself  against  me, 
charging  me  with  running  a  private  detective  agenc}^  with- 
out a  license  from  the  Police  Board.  He  had  a  warrant 
issued  for  my  arrest.  I  waived  a  hearing,  and  in  due  time 
my  trial  was  called  before  Judge  Murphy.  I  was  placed 
on  the  witness  stand  and  asked  if  I  was  engaged  in  the 
detective  business  in  St.  Louis.  I  replied  that  I  was.  1 
was  then  asked  if  I  had  a  license  from  the  Board  of  Police 
Commissioners.  I  answered  that  I  had  not  and  had  never 
applied  for  one.  I  was  then  asked  by  what  authority  I  was 
conducting  my  business.  I  stated  that  I  was  conducting 
my  business  by  the  authority  of  a  charter  from  the  State 
of  Missouri.  I  was  asked  to  produce  the  Articles  of  In- 
corporation. I  did,  and  after  the  Judge  had  carefully  read 
them  and  had  examined  my  charter,  he  dismissed  the  case 
and  assessed  the  cost  of  court  on  the  complainant. 

The  Chief  of  Police  insisted  on  a  prosecution  in  the 
Erfert  case.  Erfert  was  out  on  bond,  and  in  due  time  ap- 
peared in  court,  pleaded  guilty  and  received  a  minimum 
sentence,  which,  if  I  remember  correctly  was  two  years 
in  the  penitentiary.  I  understand  that  he  was  a  model  pris- 
oner and  was  released  under  the  two-third  rule. 

The  stolen  property  that  had  been  recovered  amounted 
to  several  thousand  dollars.  I  have  learned  that  since 
Erfert  was  released  from  prison  he  has  been  leading  an  ex- 
emplary life  and  is  respected  in  the  neighborhood  where 
he  resides.     His  confederate  was  a  mere  boy  and  was  not 


BATTLE  WITH  WOULD-BE  BANDITS.  219 

prosecuted,  it  being  understood  that  he  had  simply  been  a 
tool  for  Erfert,  and  he  had  not  been  concerned  in  many  of 
the  numerous  thefts. 


BATTLE  WITH  WOULD-BE  BANDITS. 

HOLD-UP    OF    A    MISSOURI    PACIFIC    TRAIN    FRUSTRATED — JAMES 

WEST,     ENGINEER,     AND     ELI     STUBBLEFIELD,     EX- 

CONDUCTOR,  CAUGHT  WITH  THE  GOODS 

ON  THEM. 

With  the  assistance  of  Joseph  S.  Manning,  of  my  St. 
i^ouis  office,  and  three  special  agents  regularly  in  the  employ 
3f  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad,  I  prevented  the  holding  up  of 
a  passenger  train  on  the  Lexington  Branch  near  Sedalia,  on 
the  night  of  November  29,  1898.  This  was  only  done  after 
quite  a  revolver  battle  between  my  posse  and  the  robbers,  re- 
sulting in  the  wounding  of  one  of  the  latter. 

A  few  days  before  the  attempted  train  robbery  occurred, 
Horace  G.  Clark,  then  General  Superintendent  of  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific,  with  headquarters  at  St.  Louis,  summoned  me 
to  his  office-  On  arriving  there  Mr.  Clark  told  me  that  a 
former  employee  of  the  company,  who  resided  at  Sedalia,  had 
just  informed  him  that  a  plot  had  been  formed  by  six  rail- 
road men,  including  himself,  James  West  and  Eli  Stubble- 
field,  to  hold  up  and  rob  one  of  the  company's  trains  at  some 
point  near  Sedalia,  Missouri-  The  exact  date  and  point  had 
not  been  definitely  fixed,  but  the  informant  was  to  furnish 
a  team  and  conveyance  with  which  to  take  the  would-be  train 
robbers  to  the  point  at  which  the  holdup  was  to  be  made,  and 
after  they  had  succeeded  in  robbing  the  train  he  was  to  take 
them  back  to  the  city  of  Sedalia.  He  further  informed  Mr. 
Clark  that  when  the  date  and  point  of  attack  had  been  set- 


220  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

tied  on  he  would  at  once  advise  him,  as  he,  the  informant, 
had  only  agreed  to  furnish  the  conveyance  and  assist  in  the 
robbery  so  that  he  might  have  the  guilty  parties  caught  and 
handed  over  to  the  officers  of  the  law. 

I  listened  to  the  foregoing  statement  and  called  Mr.  Clark's 
attention  to  the  fact  that  I  never  placed  much  credence  in  the 
information  given  by  any  man  who  would  deliberately  enter 
into  a  scheme  of  this  kind  with  his  former  comrades. 

Mr.  Clark  replied  that  he  had  known  his  informant,  who 
was  an  ex-engineer  named  Adams,  as  a  faithful  employee  of 
the  road  for  a  number  of  years,  and  he  was  in  good  standing 
with  the  company.  Adams  had  met  with  a  serious  accident, 
having  lost  one  of  his  arms  while  in  the  company's  service, 
and  since  the  accident  he  had  engaged  in  a  legitimate  business 
in  w^hich  he  had  succeeded  and  had  accumulated  consider- 
able property  within  a  few  years.  I  had  known  Mr.  Clark 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  had  done  considerable  business 
with  him  while  I  was  chief  special  agent  for  the  Missouri 
Pacific  road,  with  which  company  he  also  held  an  official  posi- 
tion. It  was  on  account  of  our  close  friendship  that  Mr. 
Clark  had  sent  for  me,  for  at  this  time  I  had  severed  my 
connection  with  the  Missouri  Pacific  road  and  was  conducting 
a  secret  service  company  in  St.  Louis. 

Mr.  Clark  said  to  me,  "Furlong,  just  as  soon  as  the  time 
and  place  for  this  holdup  has  been  fixed  I  will  notify  you  and 
I  want  you  to  take  measures  to  prevent  that  train  from  being 
robbed,  and  catch  the  guilty  parties." 

Early  on  the  morning  of  Nov.  23rd,  I  received  a  message 
from  Mr-  Clark,  stating  that  he  had  just  learned  from  Adams 
that  the  passenger  train  on  the  Lexington  Branch  was  to  be 
held  up  and  robbed  that  night,  at  a  point  nine  miles  north  of 
Sedalia,  and  instructing  me  to  take  immediate  steps  to  pro- 
tect the  train  and  prevent  the  robbery-     Mr.  Clark  placed  W. 


BATTLE  WITH  WOULD-BE  BANDITS.  221 

W.  Kay,  his  special  agent,  at  my  disposal,  and,  on  consulting 
the  official  time  card  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  road,  I  found 
that  in  order  to  protect  the  Lexington  Branch  train  against 
the  contemplated  robbery,  I  must  leave  St.  Louis  at  8:45  that 
morning,  so  that  I  might  board  the  endangered  train  at 
Independence  Junction,  Missouri,  that  evening,  as  that  train 
was  due  to  leave  Kansas  City  on  its  east  bound  trip  before  the 
one  I  was  obliged  to  take  from  St.  Louis  arrived  at  Kansas 
City.  I  found  that  if  both  trains  were  on  time  I  would  have 
three  minutes  at  Independence  to  make  connections,  and  I 
succeeded  by  hustling — to  use  a  western  expression.  I  only 
had  time  to  catch  the  train  from  St.  Louis,  and  barely  time 
to  get  word  to  my  assistant  superintendent,  J.  S.  Manning, 
who  accompanied  Kay  and  myself  to  Independence,  where 
we  boarded  the  threatened  train. 

I  told  the  conductor  in  charge  of  the  train  of  the  instruc- 
tions I  had  received  from  General  Superintendent  Clark,  and 
instructed  him  that  when  the  train  was  flagged  and  stopped 
not  to  pay  any  attention  to  the  parties  who  attemped  to  stop 
the  train,  but  to  devote  his  whole  time  to  keeping  his  passen- 
gers quiet  and  to  keep  them  in  their  seats  in  the  cars,  and  to  see 
that  none  of  them  raised  a  window  and  pvit  their  heads  out. 
I  then  went  over  to  the  engineer  and  told  him  what  was 
liable  to  happen,  and  told  him  that  when  we  arrived  at  a 
certain  curve,  at  which  the  information  indicated  we  were 
to  be  flagged,  and  he  saw  the  signal,  which  would  be  a  red 
light  shown  across  the  track,  he  should  stop  the  train  im- 
mediately, and  by  all  means  he  must  not  run  beyond  the 
danger  signal.  I  told  him  that  after  he  had  stopped  the  train 
he  and  his  fireman  could  squat  down  on  what  is  known  as  the 
hearth  of  the  engine,  in  front  of  the  boiler,  where  they  would 
both  be  entirely  safe,  and  could  not  be  reached  by  bullets 
fired  from  the  ground,  as  the  sides  of  the  cab,  up  as  far  as  the 


222  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

window  sills,  were  steel,  and  by  stooping  down  below  the 
level  of  the  window  sills  both  of  them  would  be  perfectly 
safe  from  any  shots  that  might  be  fired.  The  engineer  and 
fireman  understood  my  instructions  perfectly,  but  I  noticed 
that  the  engineer,  who  was  a  big,  husky,  middle-aged  man, 
acted  as  though  he  was  an  arrant  coward- 

When  we  arrived  at  the  first  station  north  of  the  curve, 
which  was  about  two  miles,  I  placed  Mr.  Manning  on  the 
front  platform  of  the  express  and  baggage  car  immediately 
behind  the  engine-  He  was  armed  with  a  .44  Colts.  Detective 
Frank  Barnett,  of  the  Missouri  Pacific,  with  headquarters 
at  Ossowattomie,  Kansas,  and  whose  home  was  at  Sedalia, 
and  who  had  joined  my  party  at  Independence,  was  placed 
on  the  rear  end  of  the  express  car,  armed  with  a  repeating 
Winchester  shot  gun.  I  boarded  the  engine  and  took  a  seat 
on  the  engine  box.  I  placed  Mr.  Kay  on  the  fireman's  box 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  engine.  The  fireman  gave  Kay 
his  cap  to  wear  and  I  had  the  engineer's  cap  on,  so  that  any 
person  on  the  ground,  it  being  after  dark,  would  naturally 
suppose  that  I  was  the  engineer  and  Kay  the  fireman.  The 
real  engineer  and  fireman  stood  on  the  hearth  in  front  of  the 
boilerhead.  They  could  attend  to  their  duties  standing  where 
they  were  as  well  as  though  they  were  seated  on  their  respec- 
tive boxes.  We  proceeded  south  from  the  last  station  in 
this  order. 

When  we  reached  the  curve,  I  being  on  the  inside  of  the 
curve,  saw  the  signal  first.  It  proved  afterwards  to  be  a 
white  lantern  with  a  red  handkerchief  tied  over  it,  which 
gave  it  the  appearance  of  a  real  danger  signal.  It  was  swung 
back  and  forth  across  the  track,  vigorously.  I  called  the 
engineer's  attention  to  it,  while  we  were  at  least  two  hundred 
yards  away. 
•  We  were  running  then  at  a  speed  of  about  thirty  miles  an 


BATTLE  WITH  WOULD-BE  BANDITS.  223 

hour.  I  told  the  engineer  to  slow  up,  get  his  train  under 
control  and  by  all  means  to  be  sure  and  come  to  a  full  stop 
before  passing  the  signal.  There  was  a  slight  grade  to  the 
curve,  and  although  he  shut  off  his  steam,  he  did  not  apply 
the  air-brakes,  so  that  the  train  slackened  its  speed  but  very 
little-  I  saw  that  we  were  bound  to  pass  the  signal,  and  again 
commanded  him  to  stop  the  train,  but  he  seemed  to  be  bent 
on  passing  that  signal.  It  appeared  that  he  was  too  frightened 
to  think  of  the  air-brakes  at  all.  Whereupon,  I  threw  on  the 
reverse  lever  myself,  or  "plugged  the  engine"  as  the  engineer 
would  say,  which  caused  the  wheels  to  slip,  although  they 
did  not  hold  to  the  rails  or  stop  the  speed  of  the  train  but 
slowly. 

Meanwhile  the  party  who  was  swinging  the  signal  light 
stood  in  the  middle  of  the  track  until  the  train  was  almost 
on  top  of  him  ;  in  fact,  I  thought  he  was  going  to  be  run  down, 
but  he  did  manage  to  leap  from  the  track  just  in  time  to 
save  himself.  He  jumped  to  the  left  hand  side,  which  was 
the  opposite  side  of  the  engine  to  where  I  was  stationed. 
When  we  passed  him  we  were  running  at  least  fifteen  miles  an 
hour,  and  he  immediately  opened  fire  on  the  engine  with 
what  we  afterwards  learned  to  be  a  .45  Colts  revolver.  He 
riddled  the  upper  part  of  the  cab  with  bullets.  The  moment 
the  firing  began  I  sprang  from  my  side  of  the  engine  to 
the  gang  way  on  the  opposite  side.  It  did  not  take  me  an 
instant  to  get  to  that  position.  The  gang  way  was  just  pass- 
ing the  fellow  who  was  doing  the  shooting  and  I  had  time 
then  to  take  but  one  shot  at  him-  I  knew  that  I  hit  him,  for 
I  saw  him  fall  into  the  ditch.  About  the  time  the  shooting 
began,  another  would-be  robber  was  discovered  on  the  right- 
of-way.  He  also  began  firing  at  the  officers,  sending  a  couple 
of  shots  at  Manning,  who  was  on  the  front  end  of  the  express 


224  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

car,  and  both  of  which  only  missed   Manning's  head  by  a 
margin  of  a  few  inches. 

On  account  of  the  grade  the  train  did  not  come  to  a  full 
stop  until  we  had  passed  the  place  where  the  signal  had  been 
shown,  probably  a  distance  of  fifteen  hundred  feet  or  three 
train  lengths.  I  had  instructed  Messrs-  Kay  and  Manning 
and  Barnett  that  if  any  shooting  occurred  to  open  fire  on  any 
person  they  might  see  on  the  ground,  knowing  as  I  did  that 
they  would  obey  orders.  I  had  also  told  the  conductor  to  be 
sure  and  see  that  none  of  the  passengers  or  his  crew  got 
on  the  ground,  and  for  this  reason  we  dare  not  leave  the 
train  until  it  came  to  a  full  stop.  After  we  came  to  a  stop 
Kay,  Manning  and  myself  got  ofT  of  the  train  and  started  to 
the  place  where  we  expected  to  find  the  dead  or  wounded 
man  whom  I  had  shot  and  had  seen  fall  into  the  ditch.  After 
we  had  left  the  train  the  engineer  began  backing  up,  and 
nearly  ran  over  us  as  the  train  was  backing  faster  than  we 
could  either  walk  or  run. 

At  Lexington,  Missouri,  the  train  had  picked  up  an  extra 
coach,  containing  about  twenty  passengers,  members  of  a 
local  theatrical  troupe  bound  for  Sedalia  to  give  a  performance 
there.  They  were  what  theatrical  people  would  call  "bam 
stormers."  Every  one  of  them  had  a  popgun  of  some  sort 
with  them,  and  they  began  shooting  out  of  the  car  windows. 
When  we  reached  the  spot  where  I  had  seen  the  robber  fall 
we  found  that  he  had  disappeared.  There  had  been  a  light 
fall  of  snow,  probably  two  inches,  on  the  day  preceding  the 
holdup,  and  the  tracks  of  this  man  were  plainly  visible,  and 
there  was  also  a  streak  of  blood  about  two  inches  in  width, 
which  led  across  the  track  from  the  east  to  the  west  to  a 
road  running  north  and  south.  The  wounded  man  had 
taken  this  road,  which  led  to  Sedalia.  While  we  were  trying 
to  find   the   trail   we   saw   another  man   attempting   to  get 


BATTLE  WITH  WOULD-BE  BANDITS.  225 

through  a  barbed  wire  fence,  which  was  on  the  right-of-way 
of  the  railroad  on  the  east.  His  clothing  became  fastened  in 
the  wire.  He  struggled,  however,  to  extricate  himself,  and 
finally  succeeded,  just  at  the  time  that  Manning  and  I  reached 
the  place  where  the  other  man  had  fallen.  We  saw  him  as  he 
was  getting  through  the  fence,  and  he  started  to  run  in  an 
easterly  direction  through  a  large  newly  plowed  field.  To 
make  matters  worse  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow- 
Discovering  that  our  wounded  man  was  gone,  and  spying 
the  other  one  running  across  the  field,  we  gave  pursuit.  Man- 
ning succeeded  in  jumping  over  the  fence,  but  I  thought  I 
could  get  through  where  the  robber  had,  believing  that  he  had 
sprung  the  wires  and  it  would  be  easy,  but  I  also  got  caught 
on  the  barbs  and  it  was  only  with  difficulty  that  I  finally  re- 
leased myself.  By  this  time  Manning  had  got  quite  a  lead, 
but  soon,  however,  after  getting  away  from  that  fence,  I 
overtook  him,  and  so  it  was  a  neck  and  neck  race  between  us 
for  at  least  150  yards.  After  leading  us  a  merry  chase 
for  that  distance,  the  robber  fell,  and  we,  having  gained  on 
him,  were  close  to  him  when  he  fell,  and  we  sprung  upon 
and  disarmed  him.  His  hands  and  face  were  .covered  with 
blood.  He  lay  on  the  ground  moaning,  and  we  believed  that 
he  was  badly  wounded.  There  was  every  possibility  of  his 
being  seriously  hurt,  because  several  shots  had  been  fired 
at  him  by  Manning  and  myself  during  our  chase  across  the 
field.  The  "barn  stormers"  had  taken  the  matter  as  a  general 
jubilee,  and  had  begun  firing  at  friend  and  foe  alike.  They  all 
had  shooting  irons  of  some  sort  and  threw  open  their  windows 
and  began  firing  as  soon  as  we  began  to  pursue  the  robbei. 
Even  the  express  messenger,  who  knew  that  Manning  and 
myself  were  running  across  that  field,  opened  fire  with  a- 
Winchester  rifle  from  his  car.  Just  before  the  robber  fell, 
a  bullet,  which  had  evidently  been  fired  by  the  express  mes- 


226  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

senger,  struck  the  handle  of  the  revolver  that  Mr-  Manning 
was  carrying  in  his  right  hand,  splintering  the  handle  and 
nearly  paralyzing  his  hand  and  arm  with  the  concussion.  If 
the  bullet  had  hit  Manning's  hand  it  would  have  ruined  it 
forever. 

Just  as  Manning  and  myself  had  grabbed  and  disarmed  the 
fallen  man,  Detective  Barnett  reached  us,  and  jerking  the 
handkerchief,  which  had  been  used  as  a  mask,  from  the  would- 
be  robber's  face,  exclaimed,  "Why,  hello,  Jim."  We  all  knew 
then  that  we  had  captured  West,  whom  we  had  known  to  be 
in  the  conspiracy.  "Is  that  you,  Frank?"  exclaimed  West, 
after  which  he  feigned  unconsciousness-  West  was  at  that 
time  in  the  employ  of  the  Missouri  Pacific,  with  a  run  out  of 
Sedalia,  where  he  had  resided  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
had  been  at  one  time  superintendent  of  a  Sunday  school,  and 
stood  well  in  the  estimation  of  the  business  men  of  that  town. 
He  also  had  a  reputation  among  persons  who  knew  him 
better  than  the  church  people,  as  being  a  fairly  good  poker 
player,  and  exceedingly  fond  of  the  game. 

Manning,  Barnett  and  myself  were  finally  joined  by  the 
conductor  and  members  of  the  train  crew,  and  we  succeeded 
in  carrying  West  back  to  the  train.  He  appeared  to  be  unable 
to  walk,  so  we  had  to  carry  him.  W^e  laid  him  down  in  the 
express  car,  examined  him  for  wounds  and  found  that  he  had 
not  been  shot,  but  he  had  severed  some  small  blood  vessels  on 
his  wrist  while  struggling  to  get  through  the  fence  and  had 
smeared  his  face  and  clothing  with  blood  from  these  wounds. 
He  shammed  being  drunk,  but  he  was  not  at  all  under  the 
influence  of  liquor. 

Thinking  that  the  wounded  man  could  be  found  later,  and 
not  wishing  to  delay  the  train  any  longer,  we  boarded  the  train 
and  were  soon  in  Sedalia.  I  was  personally  acquainted  v^-ith 
Eli  Stubblefield,  and  being  pretty  sure  he  was  the  man  I  liad 


BATTLE  WITH  WOULD-BE  BANDITS.  227 

wounded,  when  we  arrived  in  Scdalia  I  sent  Manning  and 
Detective  John  Jackson,  of  the  Sedalia  poHce  department,  out 
to  watch  his  brother's  house,  where  he  made  his  home,  in 
the  hopes  that  they  could  intercept  and  arrest  him.  Frank 
Barnett  and  myself  secured  an  engine  at  Sedalia  and  returned 
to  the  scene  of  the  attempted  hold-up.  Picking  up  the  trail 
of  the  wounded  man,  from  his  tracks  and  the  blood  in  the 
snow,  we  followed  it  out  to  the  main  road  and  on  towards 
Sedalia.  We  came  to  a  house  occupied  by  a  negro  family, 
which  stood  near  the  road-  There  the  negroes  told  us  that 
just  after  they  had  heard  the  shooting  a  tall  slender  man, 
about  middle  aged,  had  stopped  in  front  of  their  house,  com- 
ing from  the  north,  and  was  going  south,  and  yelled  to  the 
occupants,  stating  that  he  had  been  hurt  and  would  give 
them  ten  dollars  if  they  would  hitch  up  and  drive  him  to 
Sedalia.  They  told  him  that  they  could  not  get  a  horse  at 
that  time  of  night.  He  departed  for  Sedalia  holding  his 
right  arm,  and  leaving  a  trail  of  blood  along  his  tracks. 
Satisfying  ourselves  that  Stubblefield  was  sure  to  show  up 
at  Sedalia,  Barnett  and  myself  abandoned  the  hunt,  returned 
to  our  engine  and  were  again  soon  in  Sedalia.  We  were  right 
in  believing  Stubblefield  would  soon  show  up  in  Sedalia,  for 
about  two  or  three  hours  later  the  wounded  man,  who  sure 
enough  proved  to  be  Eli  Stubblefield,  turned  up  in  Sedalia 
and  near  his  home,  where  he  was  captured  by  Manning  and 
the  Sedalia  police  officer,  who  were  waiting  for  him,  accord- 
ing to  my  instructions-  He  was  taken  to  the  county  jail, 
where  West  had  been  incarcerated,  and  physicians  called  to 
dress  his  wound.  It  was  then  learned  that  I  had  shot  him 
in  the  right  arm,  the  ball  entering  and  breaking  the  bones  at 
the  elbow.  The  wound  soon  healed,  but  Stubblefield  never 
had  the  use  of  the  arm  again,  it  always  hanging  limp  at  his 
side. 


228  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Early  the  next  morning  West  was  released  on  a  bond  signed 
by  a  couple  of  prominent  and  wealthy  Sedalia  business  men, 
but  later  in  the  day,  on  learning  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  the 
bondsmen  surrendered  him  to  the  sheriff  and  he  was  again 
locked  up,  where  he  remained  until  his  trial. 

Adams,  the  informant,  stated  to  me  the  following  morning, 
that  at  the  last  moment  the  other  four  who  had  promised  to 
join  in  the  robbery,  had  weakened,  using  his  expression,  and 
therefore  Stubblefield  and  West  were  the  only  two  he  had  to 
take  out,  and  that  after  the  firing  had  commenced  he  did  not 
Vv^ait  for  them,  but  hastily  drove  his  rig  back  to  Sedalia. 

In  due  time  both  Stubblefield  and  West  were  tried  and  con- 
victed of  the  attempted  holdup,  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary, 
if  my  recollection  serves  me  right,  for  ten  years  each.  They 
have  served  their  time  out,  and,  I  believe,  are  at  large  at  the 
present  time. 

We  found  two  six-shooters  in  the  possession  of  West,  and 
also  two  revolvers  in  the  possession  of  Stubblefield.  Stub- 
blefield was  well  known  as  a  freight  train  conductor,  and  was 
in  the  service  of  the  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  Railroad  Com- 
pany, popularly  known  as  the  "Katy."  West  had  always 
been  an  engineer  and  had  been  in  charge  of  a  freight  engine 
on  the  Missouri  Pacific  for  a  number  of  years.  The  others 
who  had  promised  to  participate  in  the  train  robbery  were 
all  ex-employees  of  some  railroad  with  the  exception  of  one, 
who  was  a  butcher.  I  withhold  the  names  of  the  other  four, 
as  they  did  not  appear  on  the  ground  nor  participate  in  the 
robbery,  and  were  not  arrested  or  tried  in  connection  with 
the  crime- 

I  will  state  here  for  the  benefit  of  the  reader  that  Adams, 
the  informant,  had  been  in  the  employ  of  the  Missouri  Pa- 
cific Railroad  Company  for  a  number  of  years  as  a  locomotive 
engineer,  had  a  good  record  uith  the  company  and  stood  well 


THE  GREAT  PITTSBURG  STRIKE.  229 

in  the  community  where  he  resided,  as  a  sober,  reliable  and 
intelligent  man,  and  a  good  citizen.  While  oiling  around  his 
engine  one  day  at  a  station  the  throttle  began  leaking,  thereby 
admitting  steam  to  the  cylinders,  which  caused  the  engine  to 
move  suddenly  while  his  arm  was  extended  through  the  spokes 
of  the  drive-wheels.  The  sudden  movement  of  the  engine 
tore  his  arm  from  the  shoulder  and  thus  terminated  his 
career  as  a  locomotive  engineer.  The  railroad  company  set- 
tled with  Adams  for  the  loss  of  his  arm  without  a  suit,  paying 
him  quite  a  sum  of  money.  It  was  with  this  money  that  he 
began  business  in  Sedalia  as  a  money  lender-  West  and  Stub- 
blefield  were  among  his  clients,  each  owing  him  quite  a  sum. 
It  was  while  talking  with  them  about  their  indebtedness  to 
him  that  West  and  Stubblefield  first  approached  the  subject  of 
robbing  the  train  to  Adams.  "We  will  have  plenty  of  money 
to  pay  you  all  that  we  owe  you  in  a  few  days,"  said  one  of 
them  to  Adams,  and  then  they  asked  him  to  join  them  in 
pulling  ofif  the  job,  which  he  agreed  to  do  for  the  reason 
before  stated. 


THE  GREAT  PITTSBURG  STRIKE. 

THRILLING   SCENES   DURING  THE    RIOTS ATTACK   ON  THE    STATE 

MILITIA SENSATIONAL    ARREST    OF    ONE  OF    THE 

RIOT    LEADERS. 

In  July,  1877,  during  the  railroad  strike  on  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad,  at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  a  riot  was  in  progress 
on  Sunday,  the  21st,  which  had  started  on  the  day  pre- 
vious. The  rioters  were  led  by  the  looses't  characters  in 
and  about  Pittsburg.  A  great  many  of  them  were  rolling- 
mill  employes  and  miners  from  mines  and  mills  adjacent 
to  Pittsburg,  who  were  in  sympathy  with  the  railway  em- 


230  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

ployes,  who  had  gone  out  upon  a  strike  on  all  the  lines 
operated  by  the  Pennsylvania  Company.  All  of  these  lines 
were  tied  up.  Not  a  car  or  locomotive  had  been  moved 
for  several  days  prior  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  riot.  The 
police  force  of  Pittsburg  was  disorganized,  many  of  them 
being  in  sympathy  with  the  strikers.  The  railroad  com- 
pany's officers  then  applied  to  the  sheriff  of  Allegheny 
County.  The  sheriff  being  unable  to  cope  with  the  rioters 
or  to  protect  the  company's  property,  called  up  Gov.  Hart- 
tranft,  then  governor  of  Pennsylvania.  The  state  militia 
of  Pennsylvania  was  ordered  to  Pittsburg  and  placed  un- 
der the  command  of  Gen.  Nagley.  Many  of  the  militia 
were  in  sympathy  with  the  strikers  and  laid  down  their 
arms  and  joined  the  rioters,  whereupon  the  Governor  or- 
dered re-enforcements  from  Philadelphia.  The  re-enforce- 
ments consisted  of  two  regiments,  the  first  and  second 
regiments  of  state  militia.  They  arrived  in  Pittsburg  on 
Saturday  afternoon,  July  20,  from  Philadelphia,  and  were 
in  charge  of  Brig.  Gen.  Brinton.  These  men  left  the  pas- 
senger coaches  at  Union  Station  at  Pittsburg,  and  were 
marched  north  to  the  railroad  yards,  which  were  full  of 
freight  and  passenger  cars,  up  to  28th  Street.  At  28th 
Street  there  was  a  mob  from  eight  to  ten  thousand  men, 
armed  with  guns,  pistols  and  clubs,  who  closed  in  on  the 
Philadelphia  troops,  opening  fire  upon  them  and  disarm- 
ing a  number  of  them  with  their  overwhelming  force. 
These  troops  displayed  great  coolness  and  nerve  under 
the  circumstances,  but  the  numbers  were  so  overwhelming 
against  them  that  they  were  forced  to  take  refuge  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company's  roundhouse  at  28th 
Street.  Here  they  held  the  position  until  a  late  hour  Sat- 
urday night.  In  the  meantime  the  rioters  had  found  a 
number  of  carloads  of  crude  petroleum  oil,  which  were  on 


THE  GREAT  PITTSBURG  STRIKE.  231 

a  side  track  north  of  the  company's  roundhouse,  where  the 
soldiers  had  taken   refuge.      The   roundhouse    being  on   a 
lower  spot  of  ground  than  the  main  grade  of  the  yards,  the 
track    where    these    cars    were    standing    formed    a    down 
grade,    running   directly    into    the    roundhouse.      The   mob 
released  the  brakes  on  two  of  the  cars  filled  with  oil,  there 
being  a  number  among  them  who  knew  just  how  to  oper- 
ate the  cars  and  switches.     These  cars  were  turned  loose 
down  the  grade,  were  set  on  fire,  and  ran  into  the  round- 
house, where  the  oil  exploded,  thereby  setting  fire  to  the 
roundhouse,  and   the  troops   who  had  taken   refuge   there 
were  compelled  to  flee  for  their  lives,   although   they   re- 
treated  in   fairly   good   order.     Their   line   of   retreat   was 
through  a  portion  of  Pittsburg  then  known  as  Pipe  Town. 
The    troops   were    assaulted    from    windows   and    roofs    of 
houses    with    bricks,    guns    and    pistols.      Many    of    them 
were  maimed  and  wounded.    Thus  they  found  their  way  to 
the  Sharpsburg  Bridge,  which  crossed  the  Allegheny  River 
north   of    Pittsburg.      The    remainder   of   the    Philadelphia 
troops  formed  a  camp  on  the  hills  just  outside  of  Sharps- 
burg, on  Sunday  morning,  where  they  remained  until  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  re-enforcements  had  assembled  in  Pitts- 
burg   to    control    the    situation,    when    the    Philadelphians 
were    again    ordered    back    to    Pittsburg.      Here     they    re- 
mained with  the  other  troops  until  the  trouble  was  over. 
In  the  meantime,  on  Saturday  night,  after  the  annihilation 
of  the   Philadelphia  troops,   the  rioters  went  through   the 
business    portion    of    Pittsbung,    breaking    into    hardware 
stores,    pawnshops    and    in    fact    any    other    establishment 
they  were  liable  to  find  firearms  or  ammunition.    A  reign  of 
terror  existed  in   Pittsburg,  from  the   fatal   Saturday  until 
late  Sunday  evening.     During  the  forenoon  of  Sunday  the 
rioters  turned  their  attention  to  the  other  cars  in  the  rail- 


232  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

road  yards.  The  writer  saw  men  and  women  breaking  into 
cars,  and  in  many  instances  saw  them  leaving  the  yards ; 
some  instances  they  would  have  a  bolt  of  silk,  fine  laces,  or 
other  fine  dress  goods  in  their  arms,  with  possibly  a  ham  or 
side  of  bacon  on  top.  They,  being  heavily  laden  with  this 
loot,  would  attempt  to  climb  the  abrupt  blufifs  which  bor- 
dered the  railroad  yards  on  the  east  side,  would  lose  their 
foothold  on  the  steep  blufifs  and  come  tumbling  down,  and 
women  and  men,  bacon  and  silk,  would  be  found  in  a  heap 
at  the  bottom. 

About  ten  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning  the  mob  found 
a  carload  of  tinware  in  the  yards,  and  about  the  same  time 
they  also  discovered  two  carloads  of  liquor  nearby.  They 
at  once  captured  all  of  the  tin  cups  and  other  vessels  that 
would  hold  liquor  from  the  carload  of  tinware.  They 
also  dumped  out  the  barrels  of  liquor  on  the  ground,  turned 
the  head  up  and  used  coupling  links  to  knock  the  head 
out  of  the  barrels.  They  then  helped  themselves  to  the 
liquor  with  the  tin  vessels  which  they  had  taken  from  the 
carload.  The  liquor  consisted  of  brandy,  whiskey  and 
other  strong  liquors.  Having  been  engaged  in  rioting  the 
night  before,  probably  not  having  stopped  long  enough  to 
get  any  breakfast,  they  drank  this  liquor  like  thirsty  people, 
and  were  soon  overcome  with  the  effects  of  it.  In  a 
short  space  of  time  the  more  violent  of  the  mob  fell  by  the 
wayside,  stupefied  with  the  overdose  of  liquor.  The  citi- 
zens learning  of  the  general  drunk,  got  together  all  sorts  of 
wagons,  carts,  and  other  vehicles  that  could  be  found  and 
commenced  to  gather  up  these  drunken  people,  who  were 
utterly  helpless,  and  conveyed  them  to  the  jail  and  lock-ups. 
These  places  were  filled  with  them  in  a  short  time.  In  fact, 
this  was  the  first  and  only  time  in  which  the  excessive  use 
of  strong  drink  was   instrumental   in   quieting  one  of  the 


THE  GREAT  PITTSBURG  STRIKE.  233 

most  desperate  and  destructive  riots  ever  engaged  in  in 
Pittsburg,  or  any  other  city. 

At  about  eleven  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  a  man  by 
the  name  of  James  Boyd,  who  hailed  from  Mansfield,  Pa., 
which  is  a  small  place  about  seven  miles  from  Pittsburg, 
at  which  place  his  father  kept  a  hotel,  or  what  was  called 
in  those  days,  a  tavern  (James  Boyd  had  been  in  Pittsburg 
a  short  time  prior  to  the  time  of  the  railroad  strike,  work- 
ing as  a  barkeeper  for  Charlie  DuChon,  whose  place  of 
business  was  directly  across  from  the  Union  Station  at 
Pittsburg),  with  a  number  of  others  was  seen  by  the 
writer  to  roll  a  barrel  of  refined  petroleum  oil  into  the  wait- 
ing room  of  the  Union  Station.  There  he  turned  the  bar- 
rel up  on  end  and  knocked  out  the  head,  then  turned  the 
barrel  down  again,  letting  the  oil  run  all  over  the  floor  of 
the  waiting  room.  He  then  took  a  handful  of  waste  that 
he  had  secured  from  one  of  the  engines,  set  fire  to  it  and 
threw  it  into  the  oil  on  the  floor,  which  ignited  instantly, 
enveloping  the  entire  inside  of  the  Union  Station  in  flames. 
The  writer  witnessed  this,  and  the  direction  taken  by  Mr. 
Boyd.  That  evening  Boyd,  with  others,  set  fire  to  a  large 
grain  elevator,  which  was  situated  just  south  of  the  Union 
Station  at  that  time.  The  roundhouse  and  general  offices 
of  what  was  known  as  the  Pan  Handle  Railroad  were  also 
burned  in  the  same  manner.  All  this  occurred  on  Sunday 
and  before  the  carloads  of  tinware  and  liquor  had  been 
discovered  and  the  general  drunk  had  occurred. 

Boyd  left  Pittsburg  Sunday  evening,  after  the  citizens 
had  summoned  courage  and  had  begun  to  gather  up  the 
drunken  rioters,  as  before  mentioned.  He  hurried  to 
Mansfield  to  his  father's  house.  The  writer  quietly  fol- 
lowed him  to  Mansfield,  and  after  locating  him  at  that 
place    returned    to    Pittsburg.      After    things    had    quieted 


234  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

down,  and  martial  law  was  being  rigidly  enforced,  the  fol- 
lowing Wednesday  I  went  to  a  livery  stable  where  I  hired 
a  pair  of  horses  and  a  light  spring  wagon,  with  top  and 
side  curtains,  which  would  readily  be  taken  for  a  country 
man's  huckster  wagon,  with  a  seat  in  front,  and  also  a  sear 
in  the  middle  of  the  wagon.  The  side  curtains  were  drawn 
down,  I  called  upon  Sol.  Colson,  who  was  a  roundsman, 
or  what  is  now  called  a  sergeant  of  police.  He  was  big, 
strong  and  courageous.  I  told  him  that  I  had  Boyd  located, 
and  proposed  to  go  down  to  Mansfield  and  arrest  him  on  a 
charge  of  arson,  as  I  had  witnessed  his  actions  on  the  Sun- 
day previous.  I  will  say  here  that  at  that  time  I  was 
special  agent  for  the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad,  which  is 
now  a  part  of  the  Pennsylvania  System,  as  it  was  at  that 
time,  but  operated  separately  from  the  other  Pennsylvania 
Lines.  I  also  told  Colson  that  many  of  the  parties  whc 
had  taken  part  in  the  riots  belong  in  and  around  Mans- 
field (which  is  now  known  as  Carnegie)  and  that  they 
would,  doubtless,  be  making  their  headquarters  at  the 
Boyd  hotel.  Whereupon  Colson  said  that  he  would  be  glad 
to  go  with  me  to  assist  in  the  arrest,  but  that  we  ought  to 
have  another  man  with  us,  and  he  suggested  a  policeman 
by  the  name  of  John  Moran.  We  found  Moran.  Both 
Colson  and  Moran  were  dressed  in  citizens'  clothes.  We 
placed  Moran  on  the  rear  seat  of  the  vehicle,  Colson  oc- 
cupying the  front  seat  with  me,  and  I  did  the  driving.  It 
was  raining  when  we  left  Pittsburg,  it  being  about  eleven 
o'clock  on  Wednesday.  We  drove  down  to  Mansfield,  a 
distance  of  seven  miles,  and  located  on  the  bank  of  a  creek. 
In  going  from  Pittsburg  to  Mansfield  the  ground  is 
rolling  and  hilly,  and  near  Mansfield  we  came  to  the  top 
of  a  hill,  which  is  at  least  a  mile  long  and  quite  a  steep 
grade  from  the  top  of  this  hill  all  the  way  into  Mansfield. 


THE  GREAT  PITTSBURG  STRIKE.  235 

The  road  being  fairly  straight,  we  could  see  a  large  crowd 
of  men  assembled  in  front  of  and  near  the  Boyd  tavern. 
As  we  neared  the  crowd  I  recognized  many  whom  I  had 
seen  rioting  in  Pittsburg  on  the  Saturday  and  Sunday  be- 
fore. They  were  apparently  prolonging  the  spree  that 
they  had  begun  in  that  city,  whooping,  hollering,  wrestling 
and  fighting.  They  were  a  motley  crowd,  and  in  fact 
what  might  be  called  a  dangerous  looking  crowd.  We 
drove  up  to  within  a  hundred  feet  of  the  front  of  the  Boyd 
tavern.  Right  here  I  want  to  say  that  Moran,  the  patrol- 
man we  had  brought  with  us,  was  not  occupying  the  rear 
seat  in  the  wagon.  He  had  been  on  duty  continuously 
since  the  beginning  of  the  trouble,  and  was  without  doubt 
much  fatigued.  When  we  had  gotten  almost  to  Mansfield 
I  heard  a  thud  in  the  rear  of  the  wagon.  Turning  around 
I  noticed  that  Moran  had  gotten  down  from  the  seat  he 
had  been  occupying  and  was  lying  on  the  bottom  of  the 
wagon.  Colson  thought  that  he  was  exhausted  and  had 
fallen  from  the  seat.  I  went  to  arouse  him,  and  to  my  sur- 
prise found  a  pint  bottle  which  had  been  filled  with  whis- 
key. Moran  had  this  bottle  of  whiskey  v/ith  him  and  had 
doubtlessly  drank  copiously  of  the  contents.  lie  was  dead 
drunk,  but  on  account  of  our  close  proximity  to  Mansfield 
at  the  time  of  this  discovery,  it  was  too  late  for  either 
Colson  or  myself  to  change  our  plans,  so  we  drove  up  to 
the  place  before  mentioned,  and  leaving.  Colson,  after 
turning  the  team  around  and  facing  them  towards  Pitts- 
burg, I  went  into  the  Boyd  tavern  to  rcconnoiter.  In  the 
1)arroom  I  found  men  standing  at  the  bar  three  and  four 
deep,  and  trying  to  elbow  up  to  get  drinks.  Old  man  Boyd 
(Jim's  father),  Jim  himself  and  two  other  bartceepers, 
sleeves  rolled  up  and  perspiring — you  will  remember  this 
was   in   July — were   serving  cheap   whiskey   as   rapidly   as 


236  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

possible.  I  elbowed  my  way  up  to  one  corner  of  the  bar 
wliere  Jim  Boyd  was  working.  I  caught  his  eye  and  said 
to  liim  in  an  undertone  that  I  had  a  friend  in  my  wagon 
just  outside  in  front  of  the  house,  who  had  been  suddenly 
stricken  with  the  cramp  colic,  and  asked  him  if  he  would 
kindly  fix  me  up  a  good  big  drink  of  brandy  and  Jamaica 
ginger,  and  that  I  would  appreciate  it  very  much  if  he 
would.  I  handed  him  a  two  dollar  note,  telling  him  to  keep 
the  change.  He  placed  the  two  dollar  note  in  his  white 
vest  pocket  and  good  naturedly  said,  "I  will  fix  something 
warm  and  bring  it  out  right  away."  He  fixed  up  a  drink, 
and  in  the  meantime  I  went  back  to  the  wagon,  and  as  the 
curtains  were  all  buttoned  down,  of  course  IMoran  was 
out  of  sight.  Returning  to  the  wagon  I  hurriedly  told  Col- 
son  that  when  this  man  came  out  with  the  drink  I  would 
be  busily  engaged  fixing  the  harness  and  I  would  tell  him 
(Boyd)  that  the  sick  friend  was  in  the  wagon.  When  Boyd 
came  out  I  told  him  to  hand  the  drink  to  Colson.  Colsou 
told  him  our  friend  was  in  the  bottom  of  the  wagon, 
whereupon  Boyd  raised  himself  up  on  the  front  wheel  to 
see  the  sufiferer.  Colson  caught  him  by  the  collar,  and  I 
boosted  him  by  the  heels  into  the  wagon  at  the  same  time. 
Colson  released  his  hold  on  the  reins  and  I  had  hard 
work  to  grab  the  front  end  of  the  wagon,  but  somehow 
managed  to  land  on  the  front  seat.  Colson  had  dragged 
Boyd  into  the  wagon  box  and  was  holding  him  down  on  top 
of  Moran,  who  was  still  soundly  sleeping.  Colson  had  fallen 
into  the  wagon  with  Boyd  and  he  let  the  reins  go  down 
between  the  horses.  By  the  time  I  got  on  the  wagon  the 
horses  were  running  away  at  full  speed  towards  Pittsburg 
right  through  the  crowd  that  was  standing  around  the 
tavern. 

In   the  meantime,  the   drunken  rioters   on   the  outside, 


THE  GREAT  PITTSBURG  STRIKE.  237 

thinking  the  team  was  running-  away,  started  in  pursuit. 
It  was  all  the  way  uphill,  therefore  I  had  but  very  little 
trouble  slowing  the  team  down  to  a  natural  pace,  as  they 
soon  became  winded. 

As  the  team  started  old  man  Boyd  and  some  of  the 
soberer  spectators  had  noticed  Boyd  being  pulled  into  the 
wagon,  and  immediately  procured  horses  and  started  in 
pursuit.  Our  team  being  winded  on  account  of  the  steep 
grade,  the  men  on  horseback  were  gaining  on  us  rapidly. 
All  this  time  Colson  was  holding  Boyd  down  on  top  of 
Moran,  and  Boyd  was  making  a  desperate  fight.  He  was 
a  wiry  young  fellow,  although  no  match  for  Colson. 
However,  it  was  just  about  all  Colson  coiiTd  do  to  keep 
him  in  the  wagon.  The  writer  had  to  do  the  driving  and 
look  after  the  team,  and  was  not  prepared  to  engage  with 
the  pursuers,  who  were  armed  with  pistols  and  guns,  but 
fortunately,  by  the  time  we  had  reached  the  grade,  half  a 
mile  up  the  hill,  one  of  those  terrible  Pennsylvania  thun- 
der showers  burst  forth  with  wind  and  rain,  and  it  struck 
us  fair  in  the  face ;  in  fact,  with  such  force  that  our  horses 
stopped  and  would  hardly  go  against  the  storm.  Of  course, 
when  this  storm  struck  us  it  also  struck  our  pursuers,  com- 
pelling them  to  go  back.  The  result  was  that  we  arrived  in 
Pittsburg  in  due  time  with  our  prisoner  and  lodged  him  in 
jail. 

Moran  had  never  once  become  cognizant  of  what  had 
happened,  and  was  still  in  oblivion  when  Colson  and  I 
delivered  him  to  his  wife  in  Pittsburg, 

Colson  was  Moran's  superior  in  rank,  but  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  Moran  had  always  been  faithful,  and  was 
overcome  by  fatigue  through  overwork  during  the  several 
days  and  nights  preceding  the  occurrence  just  related,  did 
not  prefer  charges  against  him,    Moran  sobered  up  and  did 


238  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

many  years  of  good  service  on  the  police  force  afterwards. 

This,  I  think,  was  one  of  the  most  exciting  arrests  I 
ever  participated  in.  Boyd  w^as  tried  in  the  courts  of  Pitts- 
burg in  due  time,  and  was  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for 
fourteen  years. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  brought  suit 
against  the  county  of  Allegheny  and  the  city  of  Pittsburg 
for  damages  to  their  property  sustained  during  the  riots 
in  Pittsburg.  This  case  was  later  tried  in  Beaver  County, 
Pa.,  and  the  railroad  company  was  awarded  a  judgment 
against  the  county  of  Allegheny  and  the  city  of  Pitts- 
burg for  $2,000,000  damages. 

The  railroad  company,  needing  ready  cash  at  the  time, 
sold  this  judgment  of  two  million  dollars  to  a  syndicate, 
which  consisted  of  Wm.  H.  Thaw,  of  Pittsburg,  and  nine 
other  representative  men  of  Pittsburg  for  $1,600,000 
ready  cash.  The  city  of  Pittsburg  and  county  of  Alle- 
gheny then  issued  bonds  for  the  two  million  dollar  judg- 
ment. These  bonds  were  to  mature  in  twenty  years, 
with  legal  interest  payable  annually,  so  that  the  purchas- 
er of  these  bonds  made  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  net 
on  the  purchase,  as  well  as  the  interest  on  the  bonds,  all 
of  which  has  long  since  been  payed  by  the  tax  payers  of  the 
county  of  Allegheny  and  the  city  of  Pittsburg. 


MURDER  OF  CONDUCTOR  FRAZIER. 

A  TERRIER  BEATS  A  PACK  OF  BLOOD  HOUNDS  ON  A  MAN  TRAIL — 
ARREST  AND  CONVICTION  OF  A  PAIR  OF  REALLY  BAD 
TEXANS  FOR  THE  CRIME. 

In  1885  an  attempt  was  made  by  two  masked  men  to  hold 
up  a  passenger  train  on  the  International  &  Great  Northern 


MURDER  OF  CONDUCTER  FRAZIER.  239 

Railroad,  at  a  point  south  of  Overton,  Texas.  It  was  in  the 
month  of  February  and  about  midnight,  and  the  weather 
was  quite  cold,  and  the  ground  covered  with  about  two  inches 
of  snow  and  sleet  in  the  vicinity  of  Overton.  The  train, 
bound  south  from  Longview  to  Galveston  and  San  Antonio 
on  that  night,  was  in  charge  of  Conductor  Frazier. 

When  this  train  was  about  to  pull  out  of  the  small  station 
of  Overton,  the  colored  porter,  whose  duty  it  was  to  see  that 
no  tramps  or  other  intruders  boarded  the  train  when  leaving 
stations,  noticed  two  men  climb  upon  what  is  known  as  the 
blind  end  of  the  baggage  car,  from  the  north  side,  and  the 
opposite  side  of  the  train  from  the  station.  The  porter,  upon 
seeing  the  men,  boarded  the  baggage  car  at  its  rear  end,  and, 
as  the  baggage  cars  of  that  period  all  had  doors  at  each  end, 
he  entered  the  car  by  the  rear  door  and  opened  the  front  door 
from  the  inside,  he  having  a  key.  The  train  had  not  got  fully 
under  headway  as  yet.  He  peered  out  and  ordered  the  tramps, 
as  he  supposed  them  to  be,  to  get  off  the  train ;  whereupon 
the  men,  who  were  on  the  front  platform  of  the  car  turned 
upon  him,  each  of  them  holding  two  large  Colt  revolvers.  He 
then  noticed  that  they  were  wearing  masks,  and  it  is  needless 
to  say  that  he  was  frightened-  Slamming  the  door  shut,  he 
fastened  it  and  rushed  back  into  the  car  where  he  met  Con- 
ductor Frazier,  and  informed  him  that  there  were  two  tramps 
on  the  front  end  of  the  baggage  car,  whom  he  had  ordered  ofif, 
but  that  they  had  refused  to  leave  and  had  pointed  guns  at 
him.  He  did  not  tell  the  conductor  that  the  men  were  wearing 
masks.  The  conductor,  believing  them  to  be  merely  tramps 
who  had  gotten  onto  the  car  for  the  purpose  of  stealing  a 
ride,  and  the  night  being  very  cold  for  that  section  of  the 
country,  he  concluded  that  he  would  go  and  bring  these  men 
into  the  smoking  car,  carry  them  to  the  next  station  and 
there  put  them  off.    They  would  be  more  comfortable  in  the 


240  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

smoking  car  than  out  on  the  front  platform.  He  went  to 
the  front  end  of  the  car,  accompanied  by  a  brakeman  by  the 
name  of  Powers.  Frazier  opened  the  front  door,  and  the  men 
on  the  outside  immediately  opened  fire  on  him.  He  fell  for- 
ward dead,  and  his  body  rolled  off  the  train  into  the  ditch. 
They  now  caught  sight  of  Powers,  the  brakeman,  who  was 
behind  the  conductor,  but  as  soon  as  the  firing  commenced  he 
(Powers)  turned  to  run  back  into  the  coaches.  They  shot 
him  in  the  body,  wounding  him  seriously.  The  affair  was 
promptly  reported  by  telegram  to  the  Vice-President  and 
General  Manager,  Mr.  Hoxie,  whose  headquarters  were  in 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

On  receipt  of  this  report  Mr.  Hoxie  notified  me  at  once, 
instructing  me  to  proceed  upon  the  first  train  to  Overton,  and 
investigate  the  case.  I  left  St.  Louis  early  the  morning  fol- 
lowing the  hold-up,  arriving  at  Overton  eighteen  hours  later. 
Here  I  learned,  in  addition  to  the  facts  before  mentioned,  that 
there  was  a  north  bound  passenger  train  from  Galveston 
that  night-  There  was  a  water  tank  about  three  miles 
south  of  Overton.  This  north  bound  train  was  to  meet  and 
pass  Conductor  Frazier's  train  at  the  water  tank,  and  the 
masked  men,  who  later  proved  to  be  John  Knight  and  John 
Price,  intended  to  steal  a  ride  on  the  south  bound  train  to  the 
water  tank,  and  there  to  board  the  north  bound  train  from 
Galveston,  hold  it  up  and  rob  it  between  the  water  tank  and 
Overton,  but  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  had  been  discovered 
on  the  south  bound  train  as  it  was  pulling  out  of  Overton, 
and  that  they  had  shot  and  killed  Conductor  Frazier  and 
wounded  Powers,  they  left  the  train,  and,  taking  a  circuitous 
route,  made  their  way  back  to  their  homes  in  the  little  town 
of  Overton.  Owing  to  the  coating  of  snow  on  the  ground 
they  were  easily  traced  to  Overton.  Of  course,  when  they 
reached  the  main  street  their  tracks   were  lost  among  the 


MURDER  OF  CONDUCTOR  FRAZIER.  241 

numerous  other  tracks  there.  Having  learned  all  this  I  con- 
cluded that  these  men  were  residents  of  Overton  and  not 
tramps.  I  therefore  v^ent  on  with  my  investigation,  which 
consumed  about  two  days  of  my  time. 

In  the  meantime,  as  soon  as  it  became  known  that  Con- 
ductor Frazier  had  been  murdered,  a  special  train  was  sent 
from  Marshall,  Texas,  to  Overton  with  a  pack  of  bloodhounds, 
which  were  owned  and  kept  by  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  and  were  in  charge  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Mun- 
don,  who  accompanied  the  dogs  everywhere  they  went.  Mun- 
don  had  a  posse  of  several  men  with  him,  and  at  Overton 
their  numbers  were  augmented  by  the  citizens  of  that  place. 

The  dogs  were  taken  to  the  spot  where  the  masked  men 
had  left  the  train,  which  was  about  a  mile  and  one-half  south 
of  Overton.  Here  the  dogs  went  upon  the  tracks  and  fol- 
lowed them,  in  a  circuitous  route,  to  Overton,  where  the  dogs 
became  more  or  less  confused  by  the  large  number  of  tracks 
they  found  on  the  street.  However,  there  was  one  old  dog 
in  the  pack  called  Lee.  Lee  finally  scented  a  track  in  the 
street,  began  bellowing,  and  continued  until  he  arrived  at  a 
high  picket  fence  which  surrounded  the  home  of  John  Price. 
The  dogs  were  being  followed  by  a  large  crowd,  and  when 
the  dogs  arrived  at  the  fence,  which  was  too  high  for  them  to 
jump  over,  old  Lee  kept  up  his  howling  until  Mundon  silenced 
him.  The  dogs  were  then  taken  back  to  the  spot  at  which 
Lee  had  scented  the  first  track  that  led  him  to  the  home  of 
Price,  where,  after  a  lot  of  barking  and  capering  on  the  part 
of  the  dogs,  old  Lee  scented  another  track  which  he  followed 
to  the  house  of  John  Knight. 

Knight  and  Price  were  brothers-in-law,  and  both  of  them 
were  among  the  crowd  who  were  following  the  dogs,  and  by 
reason  of  their  presence  the  crowd  burst  into  jeers  and 
laughter  when  the  dogs  led  them  to  the  houses  mentioned. 


242  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Again  the  dogs  were  taken  away  and  put  on  other  tracks, 
which  led  out  into  the  country. 

While  this  was  being  done  and  the  dogs  were  being  fol- 
lowed over  the  country  by  nearly  every  man  and  boy  in  Over- 
ton, I  was  quietly  making  the  investigations,  the  result  of 
which  I  have  told  before.  I  really  feared  that  the  dogs  were 
liable  to  locate  some  poor  unfortunate,  but  innocent  person, 
who  would  be  more  than  likely  to  be  subjected  by  the  mob  to 
violent  treatment.  So  I  went  to  Palestine,  which  is  a  division 
and  headquarters  of  the  International  and  Great  Northern 
Railroad.  Palestine  is  about  forty  miles  south  of  Overton. 
Here  I  found  the  colored  porter,  who  was  a  light  and  rather 
handsome  mulatto.  He  wore  short  sideburns  and  a  mustache, 
of  which  he  took  great  care.  He  had  previously  stated  that 
he  would  be  able  to  pick  out  the  men  whom  he  had  seen 
board  the  train  at  Overton,  and  who  had  killed  Frazier,  on 
sight,  providing  they  were  wearing  the  same  clothing  that 
they  had  worn  on  the  night  of  the  tragedy. 

Meanwhile,  I  had  telegraphed  to  St.  Louis  for  Mike  Mc- 
Cabe,  one  of  my  men,  and  McCabe  had  arrived  at  Palestine 
on  the  same  train  that  I  was  on.  I  took  the  porter,  whose 
name  was  Davis,  to  a  colored  barbershop  in  Palestine  where 
I  had  the  barber  shave  ofif  his  sideburns  and  elegant  mus- 
tache, to  which  Davis  protested  vigorously.  I  then  had 
Davis  don  the  suit  of  a  common  field  hand  and  a  soft  hat 
such  as  are  usually  worn  by  colored  field  hands  in  that  sec- 
tion. After  I  had  gotten  Davis  shaved  and  decked  up  in  his 
new  outfit,  the  change  in  his  appearance  was  so  great  that  I 
am  satisfied  his  own  mother  would  not  have  recognized  him. 

I  then  placed  him  in  charge  of  my  man  McCabe,  who  was 
unknown  in  that  part  of  the  country.  I  instructed  McCabe 
to  take  the  first  train  the  following  morning  for  Palestine  to 
the  water  tank  before  mentioned,   near  Overton,   and   there 


MURDER  OF  CONDUCTOR  FRAZIER.  243 

Davis  and  himself  were  to  leave  the  train  and  walk  from  there 
into  Overton,  and  there  to  go  around  the  town  and  look  care- 
fully over  every  person  that  came  in  contact  with  them.  In 
case  Davis  could  recognize  one  or  both  of  them  he  was  to 
quietly  inform  McCabe  and  McCabe  was  to  report  to  me  at 
once.     This  program  was  carried  out. 

In  the  meantime,  I  had  arrived  at  Overton  before  McCabe 
and  Davis  and  watched  and  waited  for  developments  from 
them- 

A  short  time  after  McCabe  and  Davis  arrived  they  were 
passing  a  blacksmith  shop  when  Davis,  the  colored  man,  noticed 
and  recognized  John  Price,  who  was  in  the  blacksmith  shop, 
had  on  an  apron  and  was  shoeing  a  horse  at  the  time.  Davis 
instantly  recognized  him  as  one  of  the  men,  from  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street.  It  was  then  near  noon,  and  the  blood- 
hounds and  the  mob  following  them  were  seen  coming  down 
the  hill  into  town,  evidently  for  their  dinner.  Davis  caught 
sight  of  and  recognized  John  Knight  among  the  front  rank 
of  the  mob  following  the  dogs.  This  fact  McCabe  promptly 
communicated  to  me.  I  then  instructed  McCabe  to  send 
Davis  back  to  Palestine  and  to  instruct  him  to  await  there  for 
further  orders  from  me- 

Powers,  the  wounded  brakeman,  had  been  taken  to  the  rail- 
road hospital  at  Ft.  Worth,  Texas,  where  he  was  supposed 
to  be  lingering  between  life  and  death  from  the  wounds  he 
had  received.  I  had  been  informed  that  Powers  could  also 
identify  the  men  who  had  assailed  him.  As  Davis  ^had; 
identified  Knight  and  Price,  and  his  identification  of  them 
being  corroborated  by  strong  circumstances,  I  concluded  to 
arrest  Price  and  Knight  and  immediately  take  them  to  Ft. 
Worth,  so  that  Powers  might  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
them,  I  therefore  telegraphed  from  Overton  to  Major  Jos. 
Merron,  general  Superintendent  of  the  International  &  Great 


244  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Northern  Railroad,  and  located  at  Palestine.  We  had  a  cipher 
code.  I  requested  Maj.  Merron  to  send  a  special  engine  with 
a  coach  to  Overton  that  night  and  to  arrive  at  about  eleven 
o'clock,  which  would  be  after  the  citizens  had  retired.  I  also 
asked  him  to  send  my  man  McCabe  to  me  with  this  special 
train-  Maj.  Merron  replied  that  he  would  comply  with  my 
request  and  that  he  would  come  himself  and  bring  another 
man  with  him  if  I  desired.  I  asked  him  whom  he  proposed 
to  bring.  He  wired  back  that  he  would  bring  Chris.  Rogers, 
who  at  that  time  was  city  marshal  of  Palestine,  a  position 
he  had  held  for  a  number  of  years,  and  he  was  a  terror  to  the 
evil  doers  of  the  community,  having  killed  no  less  than  seven 
or  eight  men  during  his  term  of  office.  I  wired  the  Major 
"O.  K.,"  requesting  him  to  instruct  his  engineer  to  approach 
the  station  at  Overton  quietly  and  without  ringing  his  bell 
or  blowing  his  whistle.  The  train  arrived  at  eleven  o'clock, 
bearing  Maj.  Merron,  Chris.  Rogers  and  McCabe.  I  met 
them  and  we  at  once  went  to  the  house  of  John  Knight, 
where  I  rapped  for  admission.  My  knock  was  answered  by 
John  Knight  himself,  whom  we  quickly  seized.  Cautioning 
him  to  keep  quiet,  which  he  did,  we  then  proceeded  to  the 
house  of  his  brother-in-law,  Price.  Here  we  expected  to 
have  some  trouble  as  Price  bore  a  very  bad  reputation,  he 
having  been  mixed  up  in  a  number  of  shooting  scrapes,  and 
was  considered  by  the  people  of  Overton  "the  bad  man  of 
the  community."  Arriving  at  the  Price  house  I  sent  McCabe, 
who,  by  the  way,  was  not  a  very  large  man,  but  thoroughly 
game,  to  the  back  of  the  house,  while  Rogers  and  myself 
went  to  the  front  door,  rapped  for  admission,  and  were 
promptly  .answered  by  a  man's  voice  from  within,  asking  who 
was  there  and  what  was  wanted.  I  stated  that  we  were 
officers  of  the  law  and  had  a  warrant  for  his  arrest  I  omitted 
to  say  that  I  had  obtained  warrants  for  both  Price  and  Knight, 


MURDER  OF  CONDUCTOR  FRAZIER.  245 

charging  them  with  the  murder  of  Conductor  Frazier.  Price 
replied  that  if  we  were  officers  we  might  call  in  the  morning, 
after  he  had  his  breakfast,  and  that  if  he  felt  like  going 
with  us  he  would  do  so,  but  that  if  he  did  not  feel  like  going 
he  would  probably  not  go. 

Price  lived  in  a  small,  one-story  cottage  or  shanty,  and  at 
one  end  of  the  sleeping  room  there  was  a  large  fire  place, 
in  which  there  was  a  large  fire  burning,  which  heated  and 
at  the  same  time  illuminated  the  room.  This  fire  place  was 
built  up  against  the  outside  of  the  house,  and  there  was  a 
crack  extending  along  the  chimney  probably  one-half  inch 
wide.  By  looking  through  this  crack,  and  by  the  light  of  th« 
fire,  a  good  view  was  to  be  had  of  the  interior  of  the  sleep- 
ing room.  The  bed  was  standing  directly  in  front  of  the  fire 
place  and  facing  it.  Over  the  head  of  the  bed  was  a  shelf 
extending  along  the  partition,  and  upon  this  shelf  Price  kept 
a  Winchester  rifle  within  his  reach  as  he  was  lying'  in  bed. 

When  Price  made  the  above  reply,  I  left  Rogers  at  the  door 
and  went  to  the  crack  near  the  chimney,  where  I  got  a  view 
of  the  inside  of  the  room,  as  above  described.  I  saw  Price 
sitting  up  in  bed  with  his  Winchester  in  his  hand,  and  while 
he  was  still  talking  I  went  back  to  the  door  and  hurriedly  told 
Rogers  of  conditions  on  the  inside.  Whereupon  Rogers  said, 
"Price,  your  house  is  surrounded  and  you  had  better  put  that 
Winchester  you  have  in  your  hands  back  on  the  shelf.  Come 
to  this  door  and  open  it  at  once  or  let  your  wife  and  babies 
come  out  before  we  set  fire  to  the  place  and  burn  you  out. 
You  have  been  bluffing  the  people  of  Overton,  but  you  cannot 
blufif  us.  We  are  officers  and  if  you  come  to  the  door  and 
surrender  we  will  protect  you.  If  you  do  not  we  will  get  you, 
if  we  have  to  burn  you  out."  His  wife  pleaded  with  him  to 
open  the  door,  which  he  did-  We  took  our  prisoners  to  the 
special  car  and  immediately  started  for  Fort  Worth,  arriving 


246  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

there  late  that  evening.  We  went  to  the  railroad  hospital, 
where  I  arranged  with  the  surgeon  in  charge  to  have  Powers 
brought  out  of  his  room,  which  was  small,  and  placed  in  a 
larger  room.  We  then  had  a  party  of  probably  twenty-iive 
or  thirty  railroad  men,  and  other  men  who  lived  near  the  hos- 
pital, file  into  the  room  and  form  a  semicircle  around  Powers' 
cot.  He  was  placed  so  that  by  merely  turning  his  head  he 
could  have  a  good  view  of  the  people  who  were  lined  up  in 
single  file,  forming  the  circle  before  described.  Knight  was 
standing  in  the  circle  near  one  end  of  the  line  and  Price  was 
stationed  in  the  line  about  midway  between  the  center  and  the 
other  end  of  the  line.  Their  dress  and  general  apparance 
was  very  similar  to  many  of  the  others  present-  After  every- 
thing was  arranged  the  doctor  in  charge  told  Powers  to  look 
over  the  line  and  see  if  he  could  recognize  any  persons  there. 
Powers  at  once  pointed  his  finger  at  Price  and  said,  "That 
is  one  of  the  men  who  was  on  that  train."  He  then  turned 
his  head  and  looked  along  the  line,  and  without  hesitation 
pointed  to  Knight,  saying,  "There's  the  other." 

We  then  took  Knight  and  Price  to  Tyler,  Texas,  where  they 
were  both  locked  up  in  default  of  bail,  to  await  their  trials  on 
the  charge  of  murder.  The  Knights  were  an  old  respected 
family  of  Russ  County,  Texas,  and  Price  had  married  John 
Knight's  sister  a  few  years  before  the  occurrence  heretofore 
related. 

Col.  Spivey,  a  prominent  criminal  attorney,  was  employed 
by  the  defense.  The  railroad  company  employed  Capt.  Jas. 
Hogg  and  his  law  partner,  John  M.  Duncan,  to  assist  in  the 
prosecution. 

In  due  time  the  day  of  the  trial  arrived,  Circuit  Judge  Mc- 
Cord  presiding.  The  defendants  demanded  separate  trials. 
Col.  Spivey  proposed  to  try  Knight  first  for  the  reason  that 
it  was  generally  understood  that  Knight  being  the  younger 


.    MURDER  OF  CONDUCTOR  FRAZIER.  247 

man  of  the  two  had  been  influenced  by  his  brother-in-law, 
Price,  and  also  that  he  had  always  borne  a  good  reputation 
prior  to  that  time.  Knight's  trial  lasted  about  two  days, 
when  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  of  manslaughter. 
His  punishment  was  fixed  at  ten  years  in  state  prison-  His 
counsel  immediately  served  notice  that  he  would  apply  for  a 
new  trial,  and  also  asked  the  continuance  of  Price's  trial  un- 
til the  next  term  of  court.  The  continuance  motion  was 
granted  and  Price  was  released  on  bail. 

While  the  question  of  Price's  bond  was  being  arranged  by 
the  lawyer  and  the  court,  I,  in  company  with  Master  of 
Transportation,  Wm.  Boyd,  left  the  court  room  and  walked 
out  into  the  grounds  in  front  of  the  courthouse,  where  we 
stood  conversing  for  a  few  moments  relative  to  the  result  of 
the  Knight  case.  I  had  noticed  a  rather  singular  looking 
young  man  who  had  been  apparently  following  me  almost 
continuously  during  the  trial.  He  was  a  good  sized  man, 
probably  thirty  years  of  age,  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  and  was 
wearing  an  extra  wide-brimmed  Texas  hat,  no  collar,  and 
had  the  appearance  of  being  slightly  under  the  influence  of 
liquor,  all  through  the  trial.  He  promptly  followed  Boyd  and 
myself  from  the  court  house  into  the  grounds,  and  appeared 
to  be  trying  to  hear  our  conversation.  I  noticed  him  so  often 
that  I  had  become  accustomed  to  looking  for- him  myself. 
1  did  not  know  him.  He  looked  to  me  as  if  he  were  looking 
for  trouble. 

After  standing  within  a  few  feet  of  where  Boyd  and  my- 
self were  talking  he  approached  us  and  said,  in  rather  a 
gruff  manner,  "Furlong,  I  know  you,  and  I  want  to  tell  you 
all  dat  you  will  never  convict  John  Price,  and  I  am  mighty 
glad  he  is  going  out  on  a  bond-" 

I  replied  to  him  that  it  did  not  make  any  difference  to 
me  whether  Price  was  ever  convicted  or  not ;  that  I  had  only 


248  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

done  my  duty  in  causing  his  arrest  and  having  him  prose- 
cuted ;  that  the  matter  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  court 
and  that  whatever  the  court  saw  fit  to  do  with  Mr.  Price 
would  be  satisfactory  to  me. 

He  then  said,  "I  was  afraid  that  Price  would  have  to  stay 
in  jail  until  the  next  term  of  court.  Now  that  he  is  going 
to  be  let  out  on  bail  I  intend  to  kill  him  before  that  time 
comes.  He  shot  my  brother  some  time  ago,  in  a  very  coward- 
ly manner  and  without  any  cause.  My  brother  will  die  from 
the  effects  of  the  wound  before  long  and  I  intend  to  kill 
him-" 

I  said  to  him,  "If  I  were  in  your  place  I  do  not  believe  I 
would  talk  about  what  you  intend  to  do,  as  you  are  liable 
to  get  into  trouble." 

"Well,"  he  said,  "I  am  just  telling  you  this,  and  I  don't 
propose  to  talk  any  more  about  it.  I  just  want  you  all  to 
know  how  I  feel  in  the  matter." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  I  felt  greatly  relieved  when  this  man 
told  me  what  he  did,  as  I  had  feared  that  he  contemplated 
making  trouble  for  me.  As  he  concluded  his  remarks  he 
extended  his  hand  to  me,  and  as  he  was  departing  said, 
"Watch  out  now,  and  remember  what  I  have  told  you." 
About  four  or  five  weeks  later  Price  came  out  of  his  house. 
It  was  early  in  the  morning,  and  he  was  standing  on  a 
platform,  that  extended  from  the  rear  of  his  house,  washing 
his  face.  This  platform  stood  about  three  feet  above  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  and  a  man  who  was  under  the  plat- 
form crawled  from  his  concealment  and  with  a  gun  shot 
Price  through  the  head.  He  fell  dead  where  he  stood.  A 
party  was  arrested  for  the  shooting  but  there  was  no  convic- 
tion, and  up  to  the  present  time  no  one  has  been  convicted 
for  the  shooting  of  Price. 

After  the  arrest  of  Knight  and  Price,   I  returned  to  St- 


FIGHT  WITH  A  MANIAC.  249 

Louis,  Mo.,  where  I  reported  in  person  to  Mr.  H.  M. 
Hoxie,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager  of  the  Gould 
System.  When  I  entered  Mr-  Hoxie's  office  to  make  my 
report  of  the  Knight  and  Price  affair,  the  Hon.  John  C. 
Brown,  then  General  Solicitor  of  the  Gould  Railway  System, 
was  in  his  office,  and  he  remained  there  by  invitation  to 
listen  to  my  report  of  the  case.  At  the  conclusion  of  my 
report  Mr.  Hoxie  turned  to  Ex-Governor  Brown  and  said, 
"Governor,  this  is  a  remarkable  case,  and  the  only  case  that 
I  know  of  where  a  terrier  had  beaten  a  pack  o£  blood 
hounds  on  a  man-trail." 

I,  being  Irish,  presumed  that  I  was  the  terrier  referred  to 
by  Mr.   Hoxie,  in  his  joking,  but  complimentary  manner. 

All  this  occurred  while  I  was  Chief  Special  Agent  for  the 
Gould  Railway  system. 


FIGHT  WITH  A  MANIAC. 

DESPERATE  ENCOUNTER  WITH  A  GIANT  BLACKSMITH,     WHO  HAD 
SUDDENLY   LOST  HIS  MIND  AND   BECOME   VIOLENT. 

Mr.  Ploffman,  I  believe  his  first  name  was  John,  was  a 
blacksmith,  and  about  thirty  years  old,  six  feet  in  height 
and  weighed  over  two  hundred  pounds.  He  was  a  powerful- 
ly built  man,  quiet  in  demeanor  and  good  natured.  He  was 
employed  in  the  blacksmith  shop  of  Trax  &  Cramer,  which 
was  the  largest  establishment  of  its  kind  in  or  about  Oil 
City,  Pennsylvania.  They  employed  a  large  number  of  me- 
chanics and  their  helpers. 

It  was  a  very  warm  morning  in  July  and  the  men  were 
hard  at  work  at  the  shop,  when  suddenly  the  big  man, 
Hoffman,  attracted  the  attention  of  his  companions  by 
his  actions.     He  was  known  to  them  as  a  sober  man,  and 


250  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

his  sudden  and  strange  conduct  was  a  great  surprise  to  all 
around  him.  He  became  violent  without  any  apparent 
provocation,  and  all  in  a  moment.  He  began  throwing 
things,  hammers,  tongs,  and  large  sized  pieces  of  iron  and 
steel,' in  fact  anything  he  could  get  hold  of,  through  the 
shop.  His  fellow  workmen  were  unable  to  get  to  him.  He 
began  foaming  at  the  mouth  and  making  a  noise  like  th^ 
muttering  of  thunder  in  the  distance.  In  short,  he  had  evi- 
dently become  violently   insane  within  a  few  moments. 

The  City  Hall  was  situated  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street,  and  but  a  short  distance  north  of  the  blacksmith 
shop.  The  messenger  from  the  shop  was  sent,  posthaste, 
for  police  assistance.  I  was  the  only  officer  there  when  the 
messenger  arrived,  and  being  the  only  one,  I  responded  to 
the  call. 

On  reaching  the  shop  I  found  Hoffman  occupying  the 
building  alone.  He  was  standing  near  the  center  of  the 
shop  with  a  sledge  hammer  in  one  hand  and  a  large  piece 
of  steel  in  the  other,  and  apparently  ready  to  attack  any 
person  that  might  appear  within  his  range.  The  other  oc- 
cupants were  all  in  the  street  and  outside  the  door  and 
out  of  his  reach.  A  large  crowd  of  passers-by  had  been  at- 
tracted by  the  excitement,  and  were  blocking  the  sidewalk 
in  front  of  and  near  the  place. 

On  taking  in  the  situation,  as  above  described,  I  con- 
cluded that  the  only  thing  that  could  be  done  was  to  seize 
and  overcome  Hoffman  as  soon  as  possible,  so  as  to  prevent 
him  from  injuring  himself  or  others.  The  question  then 
arose  as  to  how  this  giant  could  be  overcome  and  sub- 
dued without  injury  to  any  one.  The  bystanders  were  all 
anxious  to  see  him  captured,  but  there  was  none  present 
that  appeared  willing  to  assist. 

I  noticed  at  once  that  Hoffman  was  watching  the  crowd 


FIGHT  WITH  A  MANIAC.  251 

and  that  his  attention  was  in  that  direction,  so  I  went 
around  to  the  rear  door  and  approached  him  from  behind, 
being  unobserved  by  him.  I  seized  him  around  the  waist 
and  threw  him  down  on  the  floor,  but  as  he  was  like  a 
rubber  ball  and  strong  as  a  lion,  and  perspiring  as  though 
he  had  been  sprinkled  with  a  hose,  he  soon  squirmed  him- 
self out  of  my  grasp  and  sprang  to  his  feet.  I  again  grabbed 
him  by  the  legs  and  threw  him  to  the  floor.  Although 
I  was  strong  and  a  pretty  good  wrestler,  I  found  it  easy 
enough  to  throw  Hofl;man  to  the  floor,  but  it  was  im- 
possible to  keep  him  there,  he  being  so  strong  and  active. 
He  had  scarcely  any  clothing  on,  and  by  reason  of  this  and 
his  perspiring  so  freely,  he  was  as  slippery  as  an  eel,  and  I 
could  not  keep  my  hold  on  him. 

After  I  had  thrown  him  down  several  times,  which  re- 
quired every  ounce  of  strength  that  I  possessed,  I  found  my- 
self becoming  exhausted,  and  finally  in  desperation  I  sum- 
moned all  my  strength  and  power  and  succeeded  again  in 
throwing  him  down,  and<this  time  I  was  fortunate  enough 
to  secure  what  the  wrestlers  would  call  the  strangle  hold, 
or  neck  grip,  on  him,  thereby  succeeding  in  shutting  off 
his  wind.  I  then  yelled  to  the  bystanders  to  help  me,  and 
finally  a  couple  of  them  did. 

With  their  assistanc^e  I  succeeded  in  holding  him  down 
until  another  bystander  brought  a  coil  of  clothesline  from 
a  grocery  store,  which  was  directly  across  the  street.  I 
took  the  clothesline  while  the  citizens,  who  had  volun- 
teered to  assist  me,  were  holding  him,  and  commenced  to 
wind  it  around  his  legs  from  his  feet  to  his  body,  and  then 
his  arms,  fastening  them  so  that  he  could  not  move.  I 
then  procured  a  wheelbarrow,  patrol  wagons  not  being 
known  then,  and  placed  him  in  it  and  wheeled  him  from  the 
shop   to   the   lock- lip.   where   he   was    examined   and   pro- 


252  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

nounced  violently  insane.  In  due  time  he  was  placed  in  a 
straight-jacket  and  taken  in  safety  to  the  county  institution 
for  the  insane  at  Sugar  Creek,  Pennsylvania,  w^here  he  died 
in  a  few  months  without  having  recovered  his  mind. 

This,  I  believe,  was  the  most  desperate  and  dangerous 
position  I  was  ever  called  upon  to  face  during  my  whole 
life. 

The  reader  should  remember  that  the  blacksmith  was 
almost  a  Hercules  in  stature  and  strength,  and  being  in- 
sane his  strength  really  had  no  bounds. 


DECOYING  A  BAD  MAN. 

BARNEY    SWEENEY    "fALLS"     FOR    A    BIT   OF    STRATEGY,    AFTER 
KILLING    HIS    PAL    IN    A    FAKE    HOLD-UP    DOWN    IN 
INDIAN  TERRITORY. 

The  old  Indian  Territory,  now  the  eastern  portion  of  the 
State  of  Oklahoma,  was  the  scene,  or  stage,  of  many  daring 
hold-ups  and  brutal  murders,  during  the  early  days,  but  no 
crime  committed  there  was  surrounded  with  more  mys- 
tery than  the  one  of  which  I  am  going  to  relate  the  par- 
ticulars. 

On  the  night  of  September  13th,  1882,  as  a  north-bound 
M.  K.  &  T.  passenger  train  was  being  moved  out  onto 
the  main  line  from  a  siding  about  a  mile  north  of  Vinita, 
two  men  climbed  onto  the  front  platform  of  the  smoker. 
"Chick"  Warner,  the  conductor,  espied  them  and  opened 
the  door.  Before  a  word  had  been  spoken,  one  of  the 
men  shot  the  conductor  in  the  cheek  with  a  small  caliber 
revolver,  making  a  painful  and  dangerous  wound.  The 
man  who  is  said  to  have  done  the  shooting,  was  then  shot 
and  instantly  killed  by  his  companion,  his  lifeless  body 


DECOYING  A  BAD  MAN.  253 

falling  across  the  platform  of  the  car.  The  man  who  did 
the  killing  stepped  from  the  train  and  walked  back  to 
Vinita  station,  where  he  reported  to  the  station  agent, 
who  also  represented  the  express  company,  that  the  train 
had  been  held  up  by  the  famous  James  brothers  and  Ed 
Miller.  He  named  others  who  had  often  been  mentioned 
as  members  of  the  notorious  James  gang.  He  stated  that 
this  gang  had  been  camping  in  the  woods,  or  brush,  on 
Little  Cabin  Creek,  about  four  miles  to  the  north  and  east 
of  the  scene  of  the  alleged  hold-up.  He  had  known  them 
all  personally  before  coming  to  the  territory,  having  been 
born  and  raised  in  Clay  County,  Missouri,  near  the  for- 
mer home  of  the  James  boys.  He  also  said  that  he  was  a 
cousin  of  the  Jameses.  When  the  gang  went  into  camp  on 
Little  Cabin  Creek,  it  was  near  to  a  farm  where  his  sister 
lived,  and  where  he  was  staying.  They  met  him  and  had 
told  him  that  they  intended  to  hold  up  and  rob,  not  only 
that  train,  but  other  trains  on  the  "Katy,"  and  invited  him 
to  join  them.  He  also  told  the  express  agent  that  he  was 
an  expert  marksman  with  a  revolver  and  rifle,  and  that  he 
had  been  practicing  shooting  with  his  gang,  and  had  beaten 
them  all  shooting  at  a  target,  and  that  he  agreed  to  aid 
them  in  holding  up  the  train  near  Vinita  for  the  purpose 
of  causing  their  arrest  and  punishment  later  on. 

I  was  Chief  Special  Agent  of  the  Gould  System  at  that 
time,  and  the  M.  K.  &  T.  was  one  of  its  leased  properties. 
Col.  Eddy,  the  General  Manager,  wired  me  to  go  to  Vinita 
at  once  and  investigate  the  affair,  and  instructing  me  fur- 
ther to  prosecute  all  parties  connected  with  the  crime. 
I  arrived  in  Vinita  the  next  day.  I  had  no  difficulty  in  es- 
tablishing the  identity  of  the  man  who  had  done  the  kill- 
ing.    His  name  was  John  B.    (or  Barney)   Sweeney,  for- 


254 


FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 


William  (Barney)  Sweeney. 

Murderer,  train  robber  and  monumental  liar  who  claimed 

kinship  with  the  James  Boys. 


DECOYING  A  BAD  MAN.  255 

merly   a   resident   of   Clay   County,   Missouri,   and   whose 
reputation  was  all  bad. 

I  ascertained  that  during  the  afternoon  preceding  the 
affair  Sweeney  had  been  at  Vinita,  and  while  standing  on 
the  platform  of  the  railroad  station  he,  with  others,  had 
seen  the  special  train  bearing  General  Manager  Eddy  pass, 
south  bound.  The  telegraph  operator,  of  course,  knew  it 
was  Col.  Eddy's  train  and  that  the  Colonel  was  aboard,  and 
had  conveyed  the  news  to  the  spectators. 

I  learned  that  the  man  who  had  been  killed  was  an  un- 
known young  man-  who  had  appeared  at  Vinita  but  a  few 
days  before  the  trouble  had  occurred.  He  succeeded  in 
making  the  acquaintance  of  a  brother-in-law  of  Sweeney's, 
who  lived  on  a  farm  near  the  alleged  camping  place  of  the 
James  gang  on  Little  Cabin  Creek,  and  with  whom  Swee- 
ney was  making  his  home.  This  brother-in-law  needed 
help  to  work  his  corn  field  and  employed  the  young  man 
to  go  to  work  for  him  as  a  farm  hand.  The  young  man, 
who  appeared  to  be  a  Swede,  or  Norwegian,  and  spoke  but 
poor  English,  accompanied  this  man,  whose  name,  I  think, 
was  Powell,  to  his  home  and  there  met  Sweeney  for  the 
first  time.  I  also  learned  that  the  latter  had  afterwards 
induced  this  unknown  farm  hand  to  accompany  him  and 
assist  him  in  this  attempted  hold-up  near  Vinita.  Sweeney 
had  furnished  the  unknown  with  a  little,  light  calibre,  toy 
pistol,  which  was  afterwards  picked  up  near  the  scene  of 
the  killing.  Sweeney  was  a  man  about  five  feet  seven 
inches  tall,  stout,  stocky  built,  and  about  twenty-eight  or 
thirty  years  of  age,  dark  complexioned,  dark  small  eyes, 
a  luxurious  head  of  black  hair,  a  rather  pretentious,  long, 
dark  mustache,  and  weighed  about  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty to  eighty  pounds.  He  was  very  quick  and  active  in 
his  motions,  was  a  great    braggart,  and  whenever  occasion 


256  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

presented  itself,  never  failed  to  tell  people  of  his  great 
marksmanship  and  how  fearless  he  was.  He  was  raised 
near  Missouri  City,  Clay  County,  Missouri,  where  his 
father  owned  a  farm  in  what  was  known  as  the  Missouri 
River  bottom.  He  had  a  sister,  a  young  woman,  who  kept 
house  for  the  father,  his  mother  having  died  prior  to  the 
occurrence  of  which  I  write, 

Sweeney's  father  bore  the  reputation  of  being  an  hon- 
est, hard-working  man,  while  his  son  had  the  reputation 
in  Clay  County  of  being  a  suspected  horse  thief,  a  notori- 
ous liar,  absolutely  unreliable  and  a  treacherous  coward. 
He  had  been  arrested  and  tried  for  the  murder  of  a  re- 
putable farmer  of  the  neighborhood,  who  was  shot  and 
killed  one  evening  while  sitting  on  the  porch  of  his  home 
with  his  infant  baby  in  his  arms.  The  shot  was  fired  from 
behind  a  thick  hedge,  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  road, 
and  from  a  distance  of  perhaps  seventy-five  feet  from 
where  the  farmer  was  sitting.  Sweeney  was  seen  going 
towards  the  farmer's  house  a  short  time  before  the  shoot- 
ing had  occurred.  He  had  also  been  seen  returning  to  his 
home  from  the  same  direction  some  time  after  the  shoot- 
ing. He  was  carrying  a  rifle.  He  was  arrested  and  tried 
for  the  murder  of  the  man,  and  it  was  proved  at  the  trial 
that  he  had  once  threatened  the  life  of  the  murdered  far- 
mer, who  lived  but  a  short  distance  from  his  father's 
place,  but  he  was  acquitted,  there  being  no  direct  evidence 
of  his  guilt.  However,  a  great  many  people  of  Clay  Coun- 
ty believed  then,  as  they  do  up  to  the  present  day,  that 
"Barney"  Sweeney,  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  had  been 
the  murderer  of  the  farmer. 

A  short  time  after  this,  by  reason  of  his  unpopularity,  he 
left  that  part  of  Clay  County  and  went  to  live  with  his 
sister  on   Little   Cabin   Creek.     Knowing  the  facts  about 


,  DECOYING  A  BAD  MAN.  257 

Sweeney's  bad  reputation,  and  after  hearing  the  story  he 
had  told  about  the  affair  at  Vinita,  I  concluded  to  place 
him  under  arrest,  charging  him  with  having  shot  and 
seriously  wounded  Conductor  Warner,  as  well  as  having 
murdered  the  man  who  he  claimed  was  Ed  Miller,  or  Wil- 
son, thinking,  as  I  did,  that  I  would  surely  be  able  to  find 
out  who  this  unknown  man  was.  I  knew  that  it  was  not 
Ed  Miller,  because  I  knew  that  he  was  dead,  having  been 
killed  while  attempting  to  rob  a  bank  in  a  little  town  in 
Minnesota.  I  also  knew  that  at  this  time  the  James  boys 
were  not  in  or  about  the  Indian  Territory.  Frank  James 
was  living  peaceably,  as  a  good  citizen,  in  Tennessee.  Jesse, 
his  brother,  was  also  supposed  to  be  somewhere  in  that 
vicinity.  I  knew  where  Dick  Little,  another  member  of  the 
outfit,  was  making  his  home,  and  thus  knew  that  Sweeney 
was  deliberately  falsifying  all  the  way  through.  To  use 
stronger  language,  he  was  a  deliberate  liar. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  write,  Captain  Sam.  Sixkiller,  a 
full-blooded  Cherokee  Indian,  was  the  Chief  of  the  United 
States  Indian  Police,  and  lived  at  Muskogee.  This  police 
force  was  maintained  by  the  United  States  Government, 
and  consisted  entirely  of  Indians  of  good  reputation,  and 
it  was  their  duty  to  patrol  the  Indian  Territory.  They 
were  armed  and  mounted,  and  were  there  to  protect  the 
law-abiding  Indians  and  other  residents  and  their  proper- 
ty, especially  from  whiskey  peddlers,  of  which  there  were 
a  great  many  plying  their  nefarious  trade,  selling  the  In- 
dians cheap  whiskey  at  exorbitant  prices,  which  was 
strictly  prohibited  by  the  Federal  laws  governing  the 
Indian  Territory. 

Sixkiller  and  his  force  had  all  authority  to  arrest  any 
person  charged  with  a  crime,  on  sight  or  on  complaint.  So 
after  deciding  to  arrest  Sweeney,  I  wired  from  Vinita  to 


258  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Capt.  Sixkiller,  at  Muskogee,  requesting  him  to  join  me  at 
Vinita  for  the  purpose  of  arresting  this  law-breaker,  with- 
out mentioning  Sweeney's  name. 

In  a  short  time  I  received  an  answer  from  Sixkiller's 
physician  stating  that  Sixkiller  was  confined  to  his  bed 
with  a  severe  attack  of  fever.  Upon  receipt  of  this  in- 
formation, I  reported  to  Luke  Sixkiller,  a  brother  of  the 
Chief,  who  lived  at  Vinita,  and  who  was  a  member  of  the 
United  States  Indian  police  force.  I  requested  Luke  to 
accompany  me  to  where  Sweeney  was  living  with  his 
brother-in-law  to  arrest  him.  Luke  promptly  told  me  that 
he  would  not  dare  arrest  Sweeney  unless  his  brother,  the 
Chief,  was  present.  "Why,"  he  said,  "this  man  Sweeney 
is  a  terror.  He  is  a  wonderful  shot  with  either  rifle  or 
pistol,  and  it  will  take  at  least  a  half-dozen  men,  well 
armed,  to  capture  him.  He  is  a  desperate  man,  and  so  we 
will  have  to  wait  until  the  Chief  gets  well  enough  to  come 
and  help  capture  him." 

I  had  been  accompanied  to  Vinita  by  one  of  my  assist- 
ants, whose  name  was  William  H.  Bonnell.  He  was  a 
little  fellow,  only  weighing  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds,  inclined  to  be  tall,  but  slender,  had  plenty  of  nerve, 
and  v/as  a  remarkably  good  marksman,  always  willing  and 
anxious  to  do  his  duty,  and  would  take  as  many  chances  as 
any  man  I  ever  knew.  He  had  helped  me  to  get  the  in- 
formation which  led  me  to  the  decision  of  arresting  Swee- 
ney, and  on  hearing  that  Sixkiller  was  sick  he  at  once 
suggested  that  he  and  I  go  to  the  Little  Cabin  Creek  farm 
and  capture  Sweeney  ourselves.  Our  conference  took 
place  in  the  evening,  and  I  told  Bonnell  that  I  would  sleep 
over  the  matter  and  would  decide  by  morning  what  should 
be  done. 

I  had  seen  Sweeney  but  once  in  my  life,  and  that  was 


DECOYING  A  BAD  MAN. 


259 


about  a  year  before  in  Kansas  City,  he  having  been  pointed 
out  to  me  by  an  officer,  but  I  was  satislied  he  did  not  know 
me,  so  after  carefully  considering  the  matter  next  morn- 
ing, I  decided  that  I  would  take  a  horse  and  ride  over  to 
the  Little  Cabin  place  alone.     I  felt  sure  if  Sweeney  did 


William  H.  Bonnell. 

For  many  years  one  of  Detective  Furlong's  trusted  operatives 
and  noted  for  his  fearlessness. 

not  know  me,  or  recognize   me,  that   I   would  be  able  to 

bring  him   into  Vinita  alone,   with   less  trouble  than   if   I 

was  accompanied  by  another  stranger,  knowing,  as  I  did, 

his  treacherous  and  cowardly  disposition.     I  reasoned  that 

if  he  saw  two  strangers  approaching  his  brother-in-law's 


2G0  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

house  he  was  liable  to  open  fire  on  us  and  might  kill  one 
or  both  of  us  before  we  could  reach  him,  and  that  he 
would  be  less  liable  to  open  fire  on  a  lone  man.  Bonnell 
demurred,  saying  that  I  would  probably  get  killed  going 
over  there  alone,  but  for  the  reasons  above  stated,  I  decided 
to  go  alone. 

I  procured  a  horse  from  a  livery  stable  and  started.  I 
reached  the  farm-house  about  9 130  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
I  took  a  course  across  the  open  prairie,  a  distance  of  about 
four  miles.  On  the  other  side  of  this  I  came  to  Little 
Cabin  Creek.  There  was  a  heavy  growth  of  timber  and 
thick  underbrush  on  every  side.  The  trail  to  the  farm 
led  directly  through  the  brush  timber  for  about  two  or 
three  miles.  At  last  I  reached  a  set  of  bars  that  served 
for  a  gate  directly  in  front  of  a  two-story,  frame  farm- 
house, which  stood  in  an  open  field,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred feet  from  the  bars.  The  thick  timber  and  under- 
growth shut  out  a  view  of  the  house,  and  I  did  not  see 
it  until  my  horse  had  reached  the  bars.  When  I  reached 
there  I  discovered  the  house  and  saw  Sweeney  sitting  on 
the  porch  in  plain  sight,  and  a  Winchester  rifle  was  lean- 
ing up  against  the  building  near  him.  I  got  off  my  horse, 
placing  the  rein  over  the  bar  post,  let  down  one  of  the 
bars  and  crawled  through.  As  soon  as  I  had  got  inside 
the  bars  Sweeney  commanded  me  to  throw  up  my  hands, 
and  looking  up  at  him  I  found  that  he  had  risen  and  was 
holding  the  Winchester  pointed  at  me.  I  halted.  He 
said,  "Who  are  you  and  what  do  you  want?" 

I  replied,  "My  name  is  Foster,  and  I  want  to  see  Mr. 
John  B.  Sweeney." 

"I  am  John  B.  Sweeney,"  he  said,  "What  do  you  want 
with  me?" 

1   answered   him   by   saying,   "I   beg  your   pardon,   Mr, 


DECOYING  A  BAD  MAN.  261 

Sweeney,  but  is  that  gun  loaded  that  you  have  pointed  at 
me?" 

He  laughed  and  replied,  "What  the  h — 1  do  you  think 
I  would  be  doing  with  this  gun  if  it  were  not  loaded?" 

"Well,"  I  said,  "if  that  gun  is  loaded  I  wish  you  would 
turn  the  muzzle  of  it  in  some  other  direction.  That  horse 
that  I  have  down  there  is  one  that  I  borrowed  from  the 
livery  man  at  Vinita  to  ride  over  here  on,  and  if  that  gun 
would  accidentally  go  off  it  might  scare  the  horse  and 
cause  him  to  break  loose  or  maybe  hurt  me.  If  the  horse 
got  away  I  would  have  a  lot  of  trouble  catching  him,  and 
if  I  did  not  catch  him  the  livery  man  would  make  trouble 
for  me.  Furthermore,  I  did  not  come  over  here  anyway  to 
get  shot.  If  I  had  expected  there  would  be  any  shooting 
I  wouldn't  have  come." 

"What  did  you  come  here  for?"  asked  Sweeney. 

I  said,  "Col.  Eddy,  General  Manager  of  the  M.  K.  &  T. 
road,  went  south  last  night,  passing  Vinita  on  his  special 
train  (said  this,  knowing  that  Sweeney  had  been  standing 
on  the  platform  when  the  Colonel's  train  had  passed)  and 
he  wired  me  from  Eufaula,  in  a  cipher,  to  come  out  here 
and  see  John  B.  Sweeney  and  ask  him  to  come  over  to  Vi- 
nita and  meet  him  on  his  return  north  to  Parsons.  He 
said  in  the  message  that  he  expected  to  arrive  at  Vinita 
about  eleven-thirty  today,  and  that  he  wanted  to  have  a 
private  talk  with  you  to  arrange  with  him  for  your  services 
in  assisting  in  the  capture  of  the  parties  implicated  in  the 
holdup  that  occurred  at  Vinita  a  few  days  before.  If  you 
are  Mr.  Sweeney,  and  will  accompany  me  back  to  Vinita 
we  will  just  about  have  time,  by  starting  soon,  to  reach 
there  before  Col.  Eddy's  train  arrives.  The  Colonel  does 
not  want  the  people  at  Vinita  to  know  that  you  have  met 
him,   as   he  has   been   led   to   understand   that   the   people 


262  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

of  that  town  do  not  like  you,  so  he  will  run  his  train  onto 
the  siding  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  Vinita,  and  we 
can  leave  our  horses  at  the  livery  stable  and  walk  to  the 
side  track,  each  of  us  taking  different  directions,  and  the 
people  will  know  nothing  about  your  having  met  the  Col- 
onel." 

Sweeney  replied,  "I  know  them  fellows  at  Vinita  are  all 
afraid  of  me,  and  if  Col.  Eddy  will  give  me  a  job  and  pay 
me  enough  I  will  get  those  train  robbers  for  him.  I  will 
go  with  you." 

He  called  his  brother-in-law  and  said,  "Go  and  put  the 
saddle  on  Baldy."  Baldy  was  his  horse.  He  turned  to 
me  and  said,  "Come  up  and  take  a  seat  here  on  the  porch 
while  I  go  up  and  get  ready  to  go  wnth  you." 

He  took  his  rifle  and  went  upstairs.  I  took  the  seat  he 
had  previously  occupied  on  the  porch,  to  await  his  coming. 
I  asked  his  sister  to  please  give  me  a  drink  of  water.  1 
was  terribly  thirsty,  caused,  no  doubt,  by  looking  into 
the  barrel  of  that  Winchester.  I  had  only  been  seated  a 
few  moments  when  Sw^eeney  appeared  in  the  doorway  car- 
rying in  his  left  hand  his  nine-inch  .45  six-shooter,  Colts, 
and  in  his  shirt  sleeves.  He  had  left  the  Winchester  in  the 
house.  He  said  to  me  in  a  commanding  voice,  "You  have 
found  the  way  out  here,  and  now  you  can  get  on  your 
horse  and  lead  the  way  back." 

While  he  was  speaking  the  brother-in-law  brought  the 
horse  around,  Sweeney  mounted  it  and  I  let  down  the  bars. 
He  motioned  me  to  lead  the  way,  which  I  did.  He  rode  up 
close  behind  me,  carrying  his  gun  in  his  left  hand,  and  con- 
tinuously telling  about  how  he  had  practiced  shooting 
with  the  James  gang  while  they  had  been  camping  near  his 
home,  and  that  he  had  beaten  them.  He  also  pointed  out 
a  clump  of  bushes  in  which  he  said    the  gang  had  camped 


DECOYING  A   BAD   MAN  263 

during  the  several  days  that  they  had  been  in  that  neigh- 
borhood. After  we  had  left  the  covered  ground  and  come 
out  onto  the  prairie  I  told  Sweeney  that  I  occupied  the 
corner  room  in  the  hotel  at  Vinita  the  night  before.  I 
said,  "I  have  not  settled  my  bill  and  my  grip  is  still  in  the 
room,  and  I  think  we  had  better  ride  to  the  livery  stable 
and  leave  our  horses,  and  you  had  better  go  to  my  room 
direct,  and  I  will  go  from  the  stable  to  the  telegraph  ofificc 
and  find  out  from  the  operator  where  Col.  Eddy's  special 
train  is  and  at  what  time  it  will  arrive  at  Vinita.  I  am 
getting  hungry  and  if  I  find  that  we  have  time  to  get  some- 
thing to  eat  before  the  special  arrives,  I  will  order  some- 
thing. I  will  come  direct  to  the  room  and  tell  you  what 
I  have  learned." 

We  separated,  Sweeney  going  to  the  hotel  and  I,  ap- 
parently, going  to  the  telegraph  ofifice,  which  was  in  the 
opposite  direction  to  that  taken  by  Sweeney.  I  did  not 
stop  at  the  telegraph  office,  but  went  around  back  of  it, 
placing  some  buildings  between  Sweeney  and  myself.  I 
crossed  the  street  at  a  point  west  of  the  depot  and  went 
around  to  the  rear  of  the  hotel,  where  there  was  a  flight 
of  stairs  leading  from  the  back  yard  to  the  second  floor 
of  the  hotel  from  the  outside.  I  ascended  these  stairs  and 
went  to  my  room,  where  I  found  the  door  standing  about 
half  way  open  and  could  see,  through  a  crack  between  the 
door  and  the  jamb  Sweeney  lying  down  on  my  bed  with 
his  hat,  boots  and  spurs  on.  He  was  taking  things  easy.  I 
entered  noiselessly,  holding  a  small,  double-barrel.  Reming- 
ton derringer  that  I  had  taken  from  my  pocket  as  I  entered 
the  room.  I  was  whistling,  and  suddenly  thrust  the  derringer 
into  Mr.  Sweeneys  mouth,  breaking  two  of  his  upper  teeth 
loose.  I  told  him  to  throw  up  his  hands,  and  he  was  not  long 
in  obeying.     With  my  left  hand  I  unbuckled  his  belt  and  re- 


264  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

moved  it  from  him.  It  contained  the  holster  in  which  he  had 
placed  the  nine-inch  Colts. 

Bonnell  had  noticed  us  when  we  arrived,  and  when  we 
separated  and  as  I  crossed  the  street  going  to  the  hotel  I  gave 
him  a  signal  to  follow  me.  He  entered  the  room  just  as  I 
had  disarmed  Sweeney.  I  told  him  to  put  handcuffs  on  the 
prisoner  and  to  take  him  to  the  calaboose  and  lock  him  up. 
I  had  Sweeney's  meals  sent  to  the  lock-up. 

When  the  next  train  arrived  there,  who  should  be  on  it 
but  Capt.  Sam  Sixkiller,  who  had  left  his  sick  bed  and  come 
up  to  Vinita  to  assist  me  in  making  the  arrest.  He  told  me, 
on  his  arrival,  that  it  would  not  do  to  take  Sweney  through 
Muskogee,  as  the  railroad  men  there  were  aroused  and  would 
undoubtedly  attempt  violence,  for  they  had  all  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  Sweeney  was  a  fraud  and  was  the  man  who 
shot  Conductor  Warner.  Warner  was  very  popular  among 
the  employes  of  the  road.  So  we  boarded  the  north-bound 
train  .and  brought  Sweeney  to  St.  Louis,  transferring  there 
to  the  Iron  Mountain  for  Little  Rock,  Arkansas.  Here  we 
changed  cars  for  the  Fort  Smith  and  Little  Rock  Road,  and 
thus  reached  Fort  Smith,  Arkansas,  in  safety  with  our  prisoner 
and  without  any  interference  from  the  railroad  men 

Sweeney  never  uttered  a  word  from  the  time  I  disarmed 
him  until  we  had  boarded  the  train  for  St.  Louis  and  were 
probably  twenty  miles  north  of  \"inita.  We  were  in  the 
smoking  car,  Capt.  Sixkiller  and  the  prisoner  ahead  and  I  in 
a  seat  just  behind  them,  when  finally  Sweeney  turned  his 
head  around  towards  me  and  said,  "Mr.  Foster,  I  wish  you 
would  please  show  me  that  gun  you  stuck  into  my  mouth." 

I  took  the  cartridges  out  of  the  gun  and  handed  it  to  him. 
It  was  not  more  than  five  inches  in  length  and  of  .41  calibre- 
He  examined  it  critically,  and  without  turning  his  head 
handed  it  back  to  me  over  his  shoulder,  saying  in  a  disgusted 


DECOYING  A  BAD  MAN.  265 

manner,  "H — 1,  I  thought  that  gun  was  a  foot  long." 

We  lodged  him  in  jail  at  Fort  Smith  in  due  time.  He  was 
indicted  and  finally  tried,  but,  because  I  was  never  able  to 
find  out  who  the  unknown  farmhand  was  that  he  had  killed 
and  the  motive  for  the  crime,  he  was  acquitted.  However, 
he  had  lain  in  jail  for  nearly  a  year,  and  on  his  release  he 
returned  at  once  to  Clay  County,  Missouri,  and  wrote  a 
letter  to  A,  A.  Talmage,  then  General  Manager  of  the  Missouri 
Pacific,  demanding  that  Mr-  Talmage  send  him  ten  thousand 
dollars  immediately,  and  threatening  that  if  he  did  not  that 
he  would  blow  up  the  bridge  on  the  Wabash  Railroad  and 
destroy  property  in  general,  and  in  any  event  he  would  kill 
Furlong  on  sight.  He  sent  this  letter  through  the  United 
States  mail.  Mr.  Talmage  gave  the  letter  to  me,  and  I  at 
once  made  a  complaint  to  the  United  States  commissioner, 
got  a  warrant  for  Sweeney's  arrest  and  went  to  his  father's 
farm  near  Missouri  City,  Clay  County,  accompanied  by  a 
deputy  sheriff,  whose  name  I  don't  remember,  but  who  was 
a  brave  .and  splendid  officer.  Sweeney  was  at  home.  It  was 
after  night  and  he  had  gone  to  bed.  We  rapped  for  admis- 
sion and  the  door  was  opened  by  his  father,  to  whom  we 
stated  that  we  were  officers  and  had  a  warrant  for  the  arrest 
of  his  son,  "Barney."  The  latter  was  in  bed  upstairs,  but 
heard  us  when  we  rapped  for  admission  and  had  come  to  the 
head  of  the  stairs  with  a  shot-gun  in  his  liand.  He  said,  "I 
am  here  and  I  will  kill  any  man  who  attempts  to  come  up 
those  stairs-" 

In  an  instant,  and  before  I  had  time  to  think,  the  deputy 
sheriff,  who  had  been  standing  beside  me,  sprang  up  the 
stairs.  I  followed  him  as  quickly  as  possible,  but  before  I 
had  reached  the  top  the  officer  had  clinched  with  "Barney" 
and  had  thrown  him  to  the  floor.  I  picked  up  the  gun  that 
Sweeney  had  let  fall,  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell 


2G6  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

it  we  had  captured  Mr.  Sweeney  without  a  shot  being  fired, 
so  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that  he  was  an  arrant  coward  as  well 
as  an  inexcusable  liar. 

I  took  him  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  was  tried  and  convicted 
for  havingsentthethreatening  letterthroughthemail.  Hewas 
sentenced  to  either  three  or  four  years  in  the  penitentiary. 
He  served  his  time  and  again  returned  to  his  father's  home 
at  Missouri  City.  A  short  time  later  he  held  up  and  tried  to 
rob  a  Wabash  passenger  train  .at  Missouri  City.  In  this  at- 
tempt he  was  shot  through  the  ankle  by  a  telegraph  operator. 
He  tried  to  escape  by  running,  but  was  captured  by  the  train 
crew  and  the  company's  telepraph  operator  at  that  city.  He 
was  tried  for  this  offense  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for 
fourteen  years,  and  I  had  lost  track  of  him  until  he  recently 
turned  up  in  St.  Louis  as  a  witness  against  the  New  York 
Life  Insurance  Company,  in  the  famous  Kimmel  case.  He 
claimed  to  have  visited  the  wilds  of  Oregon  with  Kimmel, 
a  man  named  Johnson  and  another  party  to  search  for  some 
hidden  treasure.  A  portion  of  the  treasure  was  found.  A 
row  over  its  division  resulted  and  Johnson  shot  and  killed 
Kimmel.  Sweeney  avenged  Kimmel's  deatll  by  killing  John- 
son on  the  spot-  Both  of  the  dead  men  were  buried  near 
where  they  fell.  On  reading  Sweeney's  story  in  the  papers, 
which  was  almost  a  repetition  of  the  story  of  the  fake  hold-up 
down  in  the  territory,  as  related  to  the  express  officials  and 
myself,  I  will  admit  I  really  sympathized  with  the  attorney 
who  had  gone  to  the  trouble  and  expense  of  getting  Sweeney 
here,  knowing,  as  I  did,  that  he  was  absolutely  untruthful 
and  unreliable. 

I  do  not  believe  that  I  ever  ran  into  as  fun-loving  a  bunch 
of  railroaders  as  the  one  which  attended  Sweeney's  trial.  Ft. 
Smith  was  crowded, as  was  usuallythe  casewhen court  was  in 
session.     At  that  time  there  was  only  one  "leading"  hotel  in 


DECOYING  A  BAD  MAN.  267 

town.  It  was  a  three-story,  old-fashioned  structure,  the  top 
story  of  which  was  one  large  room,  or  hall.  Social  func- 
tions, such  as  balls  and  other  gatherings,  were  usually  held  in 
this  hall.  When  the  railroad  men  arrived — there  were  about 
fifteen  of  them,  including  "Chick"  Warner,  Ed  Smith,  W.  B. 
Maxwell,  "Lute"  Welch  and  Tom  Hall,  all  passenger  con- 
ductors on  the  Katy — all  of  the  regular  rooms  had  been  taken. 
The  proprietor,  in  order  to  take  care  of  the  boys  as  best  he 
could,  turned  this  large  room,  or  hall,  into  a  dormitory,  placing 
therein  several  different  kinds  of  beds  and  cots  for  them  to 
sleep  on.  A  large  round  table  and  a  few  rickety  old  chairs 
constituted  the  balance  of  the  furnishings  of  the  room.  There 
was  not  much  doing  in  the  amusement  line  after  dark  in  Ft. 
Smith  in  those  days,  so  the  railroaders  retired  to  their  rooms 
early — but  not  to  sleep.  The  first  seven  or  eight  up  the  stairs, 
and  there  was  always  a  race  to  see  who  would  get  upstairs 
first,  would  assemble  themselves  around  the  table  and  soon 
be  busy  playing  a  game  of — well,  there  is  no  need  of  me 
naming  it,  as  everybody  knows  the  name  of  the  game  that 
usually  interests  the  average  railroad  man  most.  I  will  add, 
however,  that  there  was  no  "limit-"  By  and  by,  those  who 
were  lucky  enough  to  have  to  "sit  out"  would  get  sleepy  and 
roll  into  their  bed  or  cot,  but  they  did  not  have  .a  chance  to 
get  to  sleep,  the  "I'll  pass"  or  "I'll  raise  you"  of  the  players 
keeping  them  awake  until  the  game  would  break  up,  which 
was  usually  about  the  time  the  sun  commenced  to  shine  in  at 
the  windows  in  the  early  morning.  The  players  would  then 
retire  and  soon  be  snoring  to  beat  the  band.  "Chick"  Warner 
being  a  big,  deep-chested  man,  had  all  his  competitors  skinned 
a  mile  at  this  snoring  game.  As  soon  as  he  hit  the  bed  his 
snoring  machinery  would  get  in  motion.  Then  the  real  fun 
would  begin.  The  balance  of  the  gang  would  throw  pillows, 
or  shoes,  or  any  old  thing  they  could  find  at  his  head  to  wake 


268  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

him  up-  These  efforts  would  not  always  be  successful,  how- 
ever, and  the  snore  would  either  increase  in  tone  or  volume. 

At  the  breakfast  table  one  morning,  after  there  had  been 
an  unusually  long  "sitting"  the  gang  decided  to  get  even  with 
"Chick"  Warner,  who  was  still  in  bed,  by  holding  an  old- 
fashioned  Irish  wake  at  his  bedside.  Charlie  Walters,  an 
express  company  route  agent,  who  was  an  artist  of  no  mean 
ability,  procured  a  piece  of  chalk  and  in  less  time  than  it 
takes  to  tell  it,  had  transformed  the  head  of  the  bed  into  a 
monument  with  very  appropriate  inscriptions  thereon.  Some 
lumber  was  secured  and  a  fence  arranged  around  the  bed, 
on  which  were  placed  a  lot  of  empty  beer  bottles.  A  candle 
was  placed  in  the  neck  of  each  bottle,  and  after  these  were 
lighted  and  the  windows  darkened,  the  bunch  arranged  them- 
selves around  the  "bier"  and  commenced  a  w^eird  chant.  The 
noise  made  by  the  bunch  attracted  the  attention  of  most  of  the 
people  in  the  town,  and  the  big  room  was  soon  filled.  News 
of  what  was  going  on  soon  reached  the  court  room  and  Judge 
Parker  adjourned  court  and  he  and  his  officers  and  the  lawyers 
and  jurors  rushed  to  the  hotel  to  witness  the  fun-making. 
After  an  exceedingly  loud  and  boisterous  outburst  of  "grief" 
on  the  part  of  the  "mourners"  Warner  awoke.  It  did  not 
take  him  long  to  break  up  that  "wake,"  as  he  at  once  began 
raising  a  rough  house  by  throwing  everything  he  could  get 
hold  of  at  his  tormentors.  The  affair  was  the  talk  of  the 
town  for  some  time  to  come,  and  is  to  this  day  referred  to 
when  two  or  three  of  the  gang  happen  to  get  together- 

On  the  Sunday  following,  the  citizens  of  the  town,  to 
show  their  appreciation  of  the  bunch  as  good  fellows,  decided 
to  give  them  a  carriage  ride  and  show  them  the  places  of 
interest.  Judge  Parker,  in  his  private  conveyance,  was  to  lead 
the  procession.  As  none  of  the  vehicles  had  been  decorated, 
as   some   of   the    railroaders   thought   they    should   be,    they 


TRAGIC  DEATPI  OF  BILL  CASEY.  269 

decided  to  do  some  decorating  on  their  own  hook.  An  empty 
beer  keg  was  procured  and  with  a  rope  it  was  anchored  to 
the  rear  axle  of  the  Judge's  conveyance.  As  the  Judge's 
abstemious  habits  were  known  to  all  the  citizens  of  the  town, 
the  sight  of  the  beer  keg  vmder  his  buggy  created  .a  great 
deal  of  amusement  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  when  they  saw 
it  as  the  carriage  was  drawn  through  the  streets.  The  Judge 
did  not  discover  the  trick  that  had  been  played  on  him  until 
after  the  ride  was  over,  but  he  seemed  to  enjoy  the  joke  as 
much  as  did  the  jokers. 


TRAGIC  DEATH  OF  BILL  CASEY. 

INCIDENTS   ENCOUNTERED   WHILE   WORKING   ON   A   CASE    IN   THE 
OIL  REGIONS — CAPTURE   OF  A   COUPLE   OP   CLEVER 
SNEAKS   AND    SAFE    ROBBERS. 

in  1872,  a  year  after  I  had  been  elected  Chief  of  Police  of 
Oil  City,  Pa.  (and,  by  the  way,  I  had  the  distinction  of  be- 
ing the  first  Chief  of  Police  of  that  town),  the  safe  in  the 
store  of  Henry  Fair,  in  South  Oil  City,  was  robbed  late  on 
a  Saturday  night.  This  safe  contained  a  number  of  bonds, 
some  cash  and  other  valuable  papers.  The  robbery  was  not 
discovered  until  the  following  Monday  morning  by  Mr,  Fair 
himself,  who  was  the  only  person  connected  with  the  estab- 
lishment who  had  the  combination  of  the  safe-  Mr.  Fair  found 
the  safe  locked,  as  usual,  and  upon  opening  it  found  the 
bonds  and  cash  missing  from  the  safe.  I  was  immediately 
notified  of  the  robbery,  and  upon  examining  the  premises 
found  that  no  l)urglary  had  been  committed.  The  safe  and 
windows  and  doors  of  the  store  were  all  found  to  be  intact 
on  Monday  morning.  I  also  learned  that  the  cash  and  bonds 
which   were    missed    on    Monday   morning   were   known   to 


270  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

have  been  in  the  safe  as  late  as  ten  o'clock  upon  the  Satur- 
day evening  previous.  I  further  learned  that  at  that  hour 
quite  a  large  crowd  of  people  were  in  the  store,  all  of  whom 
were  supposed  to  be  customers,  and  at  the  close  of  my  in- 
vestigation there  was  no  doubt  in  my  mind  but  that  the 
safe  had  been  rifled  of  its  contents  by  the  sneak  method. 
During  the  business  hours  prior  to  ten  o'clock  Saturday 
evening,  the  safe  had  not  been  locked  and  the  door  was  left 
standing  partially  opened,  so  that  clerks  and  others  con- 
nected with  the  store  might  have  easy  access  to  it  during  the 
busy  hours  of  the  day  to  get  change,  to  look  at  accounts,  and 
other  purposes,  so  it  became  apparent  to  me  that  there  were 
probably  at  least  two  persons  connected  with  the  robbery, 
and  that  one  of  them  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  clerk 
nearest  to  the  safe,  while  his  partner  quietly  slipped  behind 
the  counter  and  to  the  safe  and  took  the  cash  and  missing 
papers  unobserved.  It  was  also  apparent  to  me  that  this 
must  have  been  done  almost  immediately  before  the  store  was 
closed  for  the  night,  as  the  cash  box  and  some  of  the  miss- 
ing bonds  had  been  out  of  the  safe  on  the  manager's  desk 
until  a  short  time  before  they  were  placed  in  the  safe  by 
Mr.  Fair  himself  at  about  ten  o'clock.  Upon  further  investi- 
gation I  learned  that  two  young  men  had  visited  the  store 
about  ten  o'clock  Saturday  evening.  One  of  them  purchased 
a  package  of  smoking  tobacco,  while  the  other  consumed 
considerable  time  in  trying  to  select  a  pair  of  shoes,  which, 
by  the  way,  he  did  not  purchase.  One  of  these  young  men 
was  known  as  "Butch"  DeWitt,  then  about  nineteen  years 
of  age,  the  other  was  William  Heilman,  twenty-one  years  of 
age-  The  parents  of  these  young  men  were  respectable,  hard- 
working people  and  both  resided  in  Oil  City.  The  boys  both 
bore  bad  reputations,  but  up  to  that  time  were  not  considered 
thieves.     Upon   learning  that   they   were   at   the   store  at  a 


TRAGIC  DEATH  OF  BILL  CASEY.  271 

late  hour  Saturday  night,  I  conckided  that  I  would  locate 
and  interview  them,  but  upon  further  inquiry  I  learned  that 
they  had  not  been  seen  since  the  Saturday  night  in  question, 
and  evidently  had  left  town.  I  also  learned  that  "Butch"  De- 
Witt  had  a  sweetheart,  whose  name  was  Hattie  Bates,  who 
was  a  professional  dancer  and  was  supposed  to  be  at  the  time 
an  employe  of  Ben  Hogan,  proprietor  of  a  large  dance  hall 
at  Petrolia,  Butler  County,  Pa. 

For  the  information  of  the  reader,  I  will  say  tnat  Ben 
Hogan  was  a  prize  fighter  of  note  and  a  sporting  character 
generally.  He  at  one  time  fought  the  celebrated  Tom  Allen 
for  the  heavyweight  championship  of  the  world,  near  St- 
Louis.  The  fight  was  a  draw  and  created  a  lot  of  bad  blood 
between  the  two  factions  interested.  Some  time  after  Hogan's 
fight  with  Tom  Allen  he  retired  from  the  prize  ring  and  be- 
came an  evangelist,  making  his  headquarters  at  Chicago,  and 
up  to  a  few  years  ago,  the  last  heard  of  him,  the  writer  has 
been  informed  had  been  very  successful  in  his  missionary 
work.  Prior  to  the  time  Hogan  established  himself  at  Pe- 
trolia he  had  been  engaged  in  the  dance  hall  business  at 
Tidicute,  Warren  County,  Pa.,  which  is  also  an  oil  town  on 
the  banks  of  the  Allegheny  River.  While  engaged  in  that 
business  a  party  of  roughs,  who  were  looking  for  trouble, 
visited  his  place  and  started  a  disturbance  in  the  dance  hall, 
which  resulted  in  one  of  the  parties  being  killed  and  two  or 
three  of  his  companions  being  severely  injured.  Hogan 
was  arrested  charged  with  murder.  Upon  hearing  of  this 
trouble,  and  knowing  as  I  did  the  character  of  the  parties  who 
created  the  disturbance,  and  that  Hogan  was  entirely  justi- 
fied in  protecting  his  premises  against  the  violence  of  this 
gang,  who  had  gone  to  his  place  in  search  of  trouble,  I  assisted 
Hogan's  attorneys  by  informing  them  as  to  the  character  and 
standing  of   the   parties    who   created   the   trouble.      Hogan 


272  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

was   acquitted   and   ever   afterwards    was   very    grateful    and 
friendly  towards  me,  and  when  I  learned  that  "Butch"  De- 
Witt's   sweetheart   was   employed   at    Hogan's    dance   hall,    I 
hastened   to  Petrolia,   thinking   that   DeWitt   might   visit   his 
sweetheart  there.     Petrolia  was   about   sixty  miles   south   of 
Oil  City  and  I  arrived  there  on  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday, 
after  the  robbery  before  mentioned.     This  was  my  first  visit 
to  Petrolia,  which  was  a  big  oil  town  or  more  like  a  mining 
camp,  located  in  a  valley  on  a  tributary  of  the  Allegheny 
River,  and  the  town  consisted  of  one  main  street  with  build- 
ings on  both  sides  of  the  street  running  up  and  down  the 
valley,   all   very   close  together   and  all   frame.     It  consisted 
chiefly  of  boarding  houses,  saloons,  dance  halls  and  gambling 
houses.     On  my  arrival  at  Petrolia  I  started  up  this  street. 
I  had  had  a  description  of  Hogan's  dance  hall,  which  he  had 
built  a  short  time  prior  to  my  going  there,  and  it  was  de- 
scribed as  one  of  the  largest  buildings  in  town,  and  when  I 
arrived  in   front  of  what   I   considered   the   largest  building 
there  I  inquired  for  Hogan's  place.     The  man  from  whom  I 
made  this   inquiry  pointed   out  the    building,    which    I    had 
selected    as    Hogan's,    which    was    directly   across    the    street 
from  where  I  was  standing,  and  told  mo  that  that  was  Hogan's 
dance   hall.     There  were  two  buildings   standing  along  side 
of  each  other,  and  as  they  were  almost  identically  the  same  in 
size  and  appearance,  and  being  anxious  to  make  no  mistake, 
I  inquired  again,  and  the  man  pointed  out  the  building  to  my 
left,  so  I  understood,  as  Hogan's,  whereupon  I  crossed  the 
street  and  entered  the  front  door  of  the  building,  which  was 
standing  open.  This  was  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
I  mention  this  fact  for  the  reason  that  everything  is  usually 
very  quiet  about  these  dance  halls  until  later  in  the  evening, 
as  places  of  this  kind  do  all  of  their  business  at  night.     There 
was  a  screen,  as  there  usually  is,  in  front  of  bar-rooms,  to 


TRAGIC  DEATH  OF  BILL  CASEY.  273 

shield  the  gaze  of  the  passers-by  on  the  sidewalk.  As  I 
entered  the  house  supposed  to  be  Hogan's,  and  went  around 
the  screen  to  my  left,  I  found  a  bar  standing  right  back  of 
the  screen  and  behind  the  bar  was  a  large  young  man  with 
blonde  hair,  rather  fine  looking,  standing  about  six  feet,  one 
inch,  in  height,  and  weighing  in  the  neighborhood  of  two 
hundred  pounds,  and  about  thirty  years  old.  This  man  was 
the  then  notorious  "Bill"  Casey,  who  was  also  a  heavy 
weight  prize  fighter,  and  the  proprietor  of  this  dance  hall.  I 
knew  Casey  upon  sight,  and  he  also  recognized  me.  When 
I  went  around  the  screen  I  found  myself  face  to  face  with 
him  as  he  was  leaning  over  with  his  elbows  on  the  bar  talking 
to  one  of  his  employes.  He  straightened  up,  looked  at  me 
for  an  instant,  and  exclaimed,  "Why,  hello.  Chief.  What  in 
the  world  are  you  doing  down  here?"  at  the  same  time  ex- 
tending his  righthand.  Ishookhands with  himandsaid,"!  just 
happened  to  be  passing  through  Petrolia  on  a  little  matter  of 
business,  and  while  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  met 
a  friend  who  told  me  that  this  was  your  place  and  that  I 
would  be  likely  to  find  you  here  at  this  time,  so  I  just  stepped 
in  to  pay  my  respects  and  shake  hand's  with  you."  To  which 
he  replied,  "I  am  mighty  glad  you  did.  You  say  that  you 
are  down  here  on  a  matter  of  business.  You  know  that  I  am 
pretty  well  posted  among  the  class  of  people  that  you  are 
generally  looking  for,  and  if  there  is  anything  I  can  do  for 
you  I  shall  be  glad  to  do  so."  I  thanked  him  for  his  offer 
and  told  'him  that  there  might  be  some  way  in  which  he 
could  assist  me  a  little  later  on.  He  then  said,  "You  know 
Kittie,  don't  you?"  (Kittie  was  his  wife),  I  said,  "Yes,  I 
remember  her."  "Wait  a  minute  and  I  will  call  her,"  and  he 
called  to  the  rear  part  of  the  house  for  Kittie.  When  she 
appeared  he  said  to  her,  "Kittie,  you  remember  Mr.  Furlong, 
don't  you  ?    He's  Chief  of  Police  at  Oil  City,  and  I  want  you 


274  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

to  shake  hands  with  him."  Kittie  came  to  where  we  were 
standing-  (in  the  meantime  Bill  had  come  behind  the  bar 
alongside  of  me)  and  good-naturedly  said,  "Oh,  yes,  I  shall 
never  forget  Mr.  Furlong."  She  then  continued,  "Mr.  Fur- 
long, Bill  and  I  often  speak  of  you.  You  did  the  best  thing 
that  ever  happened  that  time  that  j^ou  arrested  Bill  in  Oil 
City  and  he  has  often  told  me  that  he  would  always  remember 
you  with  the  kindest  of  feelings  for  the  reason  that  you 
did  not  kill  him  at  the  time  he  was  arrested.  The  manner 
in  which  he  acted  and  the  manner  in  which  he  abused  your 
man  Fry,  if  you  had  not  appeared  upon  the  scene  as  you  did 
at  that  time  he  would  have  killed  Fry  and  would  probably 
have  been  hung.  You  know  he  was  drinking  at  the  time 
and  was  acting  very  badly,  as  he  always  did  when  he  drank. 
He  has  never  touched  a  drop  of  any  kind  of  intoxicating 
liquor  since  that  time,  and  it  has  made  a  man  of  him,  and  I 
give  you  credit  for  what  you  did.  Bill  has  often  said  that 
you  had  a  perfect  right  to  kill  him  under  the  circumstances 
and  has  always  felt  very  grateful."  As  she  finished  I  said 
in  reply,  "Well,  I  am  very  glad  that  you  and  Bill  feel  as  you 
do,  and  I  appreciate  your  good  will  very  much,  although  I 
regretted  at  the  time  what  occurred,  but  knew  that  there  was 
nothing  else  to  do  but  what  I  did,  and  I  am  more  than  glad 
of  the  good  results." 

In  this  connection  I  will  say  that  just  prior  to  my  arrest 
of  "Bill"  Casey  at  Oil  City,  which  was  more  than  a  year 
prior  to  the  time  of  the  foregoing  interview,  Casey  and  his 
wife  had  a  quarrel  and  had  separated.  Mrs.  Casey  (or  Kit- 
tie),  as  he  called  her,  came  to  Oil  City  and  was  boarding  with 
a  woman  named  Mrs.  Brown,  who  had  sixteen  or  eighteen 
other  female  boarders.  Casey,  at  this  time,  was  living  at 
Petroleum  Center,  in  the  oil  country,  and  had  heard  that  his 
wife  was  boarding  with   Aladam   Brown.     He  came  to  Oil 


TRAGIC  DEATH  OF  BILL  CASEY.  275 

City  in  search  of  her  and  visited  Madam  Brown's  house  one 
afternoon  about  two  o'clock.  Madam  Brown's  house  was 
situated  in  Oil  City  in  what  is  known  as  the  "Red  Light 
District"  and  was  a  large  and  well  furnished  establishment, 
in  fact  the  finest  of  its  kind  in  the  oil  regions  of  Pennsylvania 
at  that  time.  It  so  happened  that  I  was  passing  Madam 
Brown's  house,  when  I  heard  a  tremendous  uproar  in  the 
house;  women  were  screaming  and  shouting  for  help,  and  it 
was  a  general  tumult.  Some  person  I  met  on  the  street  said 
to  me,  "You  had  better  go  into  Madam  Brown's  house.  Of- 
ficer Fry  has  just  gone  in  there  and  it  seems  as  though  he 
is  in  trouble,"  whereupon  I  hastened  into  the  place,  and  in 
one  of  the  parlors  on  my  right  as  I  went  in  I  could  hear 
Officer  Fry  calling  for  help.  I  ran  into  the  parlor,  where  I 
found  several  women,  all  screaming  at  the  top  of  their 
voices,  and  "Bill"  Casey  standing  at  one  side  of  a  large 
square,  old  fashioned  piano,  from  which  he  had  twisted  one 
of  the  legs.  He  held  this  piano  leg  in  his  hand  similar  to  the 
way  in  which  a  ball  player  holds  his  bat,  and  had  Officer  Fry 
backed  up  into  a  corner  alongside  of  the  piano  and  was  about 
to  bring  the  piano  leg  down  upon  the  officer's  head.  Fry 
had  his  revolver  in  his  hand,  but  was  unable  to  raise  it,  as 
Casey  had  him  covered  with  the  leg  of  the  ]^iano.  Casey  was 
standing  with  his  back  to  the  door  from  which  I  entered,  and, 
upon  taking  in  the  situation,  I  pulled  my  revolver  from  my 
pocket  and  struck  Casey  over  the  head  with  it  just  above  the 
right  ear,  which  cut  an  ugly  gash  and  caused  him  to  fall  to 
the  floor.  I  had  dealt  him  a  heavy  blow,  which  took  him 
completely  by  surprise,  and  before  he  could  rally  and  arise 
from  the  floor  he  was  seized  by  Fry  and  myself  and  pub- 
dued  only  after  a  vigorous  rough-and-tumble  fight.  He  was 
locked  up,  but  owing  to  the  fact  that  his  wife  had  been  found 
by  him  in  this  disreputable  place,  and  that  he  was  under  the 


276  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

influence  of  liquor,  the  committing  magistrate  fined  him 
$200.00  and  costs,  with  the  agreement,  on  his  part,  that  he 
was  to  leave  town  immediately,  upon  the  payment  of  the  fine 
and  costs,  which  he  did,  and  further  agreeing  that  he  would 
never  again  appear  in  Oil  City,  or  any  place  else  under  the 
influence  of  liquor.  That  promise  he  always  kept  until  the 
day  of  his  death. 

With  the  above  explanation  I  feel  that  it  is  unnecessary 
for  me  to  say  to  the  reader  that  I  did  not  enter  "Bill"  Casey's 
place  voluntarily.  I  had  not  the  slightest  idea  "Bill"  Casey 
was  there.  The  last  time  I  had  seen  him  was  at  Oil  City  on 
the  day  of  his  arrest,  and  he  had  said  to  me  before  leaving 
that  he  would  get  even  with  me  if  it  took  him  the  balance  of  his 
life,  so  the  reader  can  imagine  my  predicament  better  than 
I  can  describe  it,  when  I  first  found  myself  in  the  presence 
of  "Bill"  Casey  and  in  his  own  place.  It  would  have  taken  a 
good  sized  rope  to  have  dragged  me  into  that  place  had  I 
known  that  Casey  was  its  proprietor,  but  on  confronting 
him  I  could  think  of  no  better  way  than  to  act  boldly  and 
act  as  though  I  had  voluntarily  come  in  to  call  and  pay  my 
respects,  which  worked  admirably. 

After  ascertaining  the  friendly  feeling  of  Casey  and  his 
wife  I  towards  me,  I  told  them  that  I  wanted  to  locate  "Butch" 
DeWitt,  who  was  a  friend  of  Hattie  Bates,  who,  I  understood, 
was  living  next  door  with  Ben  Hogan.  Mrs.  Casey  said 
to  me,  "I  know  Mrs.  Hogan,  and  we  are  warm  friends.  I 
will  go  over  and  see  her  about  this  and  see  whether  she 
knows  anything  about  the  whereabouts  of  DeWitt  or  not." 
She  did  so,  and  in  a  few  minutes  returned  with  Mrs.  Hogan, 
who  said  to  me,  "  'Butch'  DeWitt  and  a  young  thief  by  the 
name  of  Heilman  were  here  the  night  before  last.  DeWitt, 
you  know,  is  a  sweetheart  of  the  Bates  girl,  who  lives  with 
me.      DeWitt   and   Heilman  had   some   money  and   left   here 


TRAGIC  DEATH  OF  BILL  CASEY.  277 

yesterday  morning  at  two  o'clock  for  New  Brighton,  Pa., 
where  they  have  a  job  of  some  kind  that  they  expect  to  do, 
and  intend  to  return  here  in  a  couple  of  days  from  New 
Brighton." 

I  took  the  first  train  from  PetroHa  to  Pittsburg,  and  then 
from  Pittsburg  to  New  Brighton,  Pa.,  where  I  arrived  the 
following"  morning  early-  At  New  Brighton  I  learned  that 
the  night  before  my  arrival  the  safe  in  a  factory  had  been 
blown  open  by  burglars  and  a  quantity  of  money  stolen.  At 
New  Brighton  I  received  a  good  description  of  Heilman  and 
DeWitt,  and  traced  them  down  the  railroad  to  Rochester, 
Pa.,  to  a  hotel.  LTpon  entering  this  hotel  I  found  that  they 
had  registered  under  fictitious  names  and  were  still  in  their 
rooms  at  the  hotel.  I  went  to  their  room,  forced  an  entrance, 
and  found  DeWitt  and  Heilman  there.  I  arrested  them  and 
took  them  to  Oil  City,  and  in  the  meantime  Heilman  made 
a  clean  breast  of  the  robbery-  He  told  me  that  while  he  was 
examiningthe  shoes  before  mentioned,DeWitt  sneaked  around 
behind  the  counter  and  took  from  the  safe,  which  was  un- 
locked, the  money  and  bonds  that  were  missing.  They  took 
the  currency  with  them  and  secreted  the  bonds  and  other 
things  stolen  by  them  from  the  safe  in  a  tin  lard  can,  which 
they  had  buried  on  a  farm  south  of  South  Oil  City,  known 
as  the  Faren  Farm,  They  accompanied  me  to  the  place  and 
we  recovered  the  can  and  its  contents.  These  boys  were 
convicted  and  sent  to  prison. 

The  prize  fighter  "Bill  Casey"  continued  as  proprietor  of 
the  dance  hall  and  saloon  at  PetroHa,  where  he  did  a  profitable 
business,  and  where  he  had  many  friends  among  the  drillers 
and  tool  dressers  who  were  employed  at  the  oil  wells  in  the 
district  which  surrounded  Petrolia.  He  was  noted  for  being 
big-hearted,  sociable  and  clever  while  sober,  and  it  will  be 
remembered  he  had  quit  drinking  after  his  arrest  at  Oil  City. 


278  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

He  had  accumulated  a  small  fortune,  and  upon  the  Christmas 
Eve  following-  my  interview  with  him,  as  before  related,  !ie 
and  his  wife  left  Petrolia  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  h's 
parents,  who  were  living  at  the  time  at  Lockport,  N.  Y.  They 
boarded  what  is  known  as  a  mixed  train,  northbound,  o'l 
the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad,  bound  for  Buffalo.  This 
train  consisted  of  a  number  of  freight  cars,  some  of  which 
were  loaded  with  crude  oil,  a  baggage  car  and  two  passenger 
coaches,  which  were  at  the  rear  of  the  train.  The  passenger 
coaches  were  crowded  to  their  utmost  capacity  with  pas 
sengers,  ^s  there  were  many  people  leaving  the  oil  country 
to  spend  the  holidays  in  other  regions-  As  the  train  was 
rounding  a  very  sharp  curve  near  Scrubgrass  a  front  axletree 
broke  on  one  of  the  freight  cars,  which  precipitated  the  entire 
train,  behind  the  breakdowm,  over  a  high  bank  into  the  Al- 
legheny River,  which  was  at  the  time  at  high  water  mark. 
The  crude  oil  ignited,  by  reason  of  the  wreck,  and  set  fire 
to  everything.  The  oil  spread  out  over  the  water,  and,  as 
crude  oil  burns  just  as  fiercely  upon  water  as  it  does  upon 
land,  the  whole  river  was  afire  in  a  very  short  time  from 
bank  to  bank,  and  the  fire  was  carried  down  stream  by  the 
current  at  the  rate  of  four  or  five  miles  an  hour.  Many  of 
the  passengers  were  drowned,  or  injured  and  burned  to 
death  by  the  flames,  as  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  oil 
cars  were  ahead  of  the  passenger  coaches,  and  as  the  train 
was  running  upstream  the  flames  immediately  enveloped  small 
portions  of  the  passenger  coaches  which  remained  above  tlic 
surface  of  the  water.  Casey  managed  to  <^scape  from  the 
wreck,  and,  being  a  very  powerful  man,  took  his  wife  with 
him  and  reached  the  bank  in  safety  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  burns.  There  was  a  crippled  newsboy  emplo3^ed  upou  the 
train,  and  in  the  wreck  he  had  managed  to  get  a  portion  of 
his  body  through  one  of  the  windows  which  was  upturned 


SUBDUING  A  NOTORIOUS  BULLY.  279 

and  out  of  the  water,  while  his  lower  limbs  were  fastened 
in  the  wreck,  and  he  was  about  to  be  engulfed  in  a  body  of 
floating  burning  oil,  which  was  rapidly  approaching  him,  when 
Casey  spied  him.  Casey  immediately  left  his  wife  standing 
on  the  bank  and  rushed  to  the  assistance  of  the  newsboy,  and 
while  tugging  away  trying  to  extricate  the  boy  from  the 
wreck  Casey  was  engulfed  by  the  burning  oil  and  lost  his 
life,  and  thus  died  in  the  act  of  performing  a  humane  and 
heroic  deed. 


SUBDUING  A  NOTORIOUS  BTJLLY. 

ONE    OF    MY   EARLY    EXPERIENCES    WHILE    CHIEF    OP    POLICE    OF 

OIL  CITY — HOW  A  BAD  MAN,  WITH  A  LONG  RECORD, 

WAS    TAKEN    TO    JAIL. 

The  notorious  Tom  Daly  of  Buffalo,  New  York,  was  ar- 
rested at  Oil  City,  Pa.,  early  in  the  summer  of  1872.  Daly 
had  been  regarded  in  and  around  the  city  of  Buffalo  for 
years,  prior  to  his  arrest  at  Oil  City,  as  a  desperate  and  bad 
character.  He  had  a  police  record  almost  as  long  as  the 
state  statutes.  He  was  a  fighter  and  associated  and  lived 
with  the  most  vile  and  vicious  characters  to  be  found  in  the 
city.  He  was  never  known  to  work  at  any  legitimate  trade 
or  business.  He  did  pretend  to  gamble.  He  drank  at  times 
to  excess,  and  Avas  known  to  the  police  as  a  strong-arm,  or 
hold-up,  man,  and  was  considered  by  the  police  a  hard  and 
bad  man  to  arrest — a  task  which  they  were  frequently  called 
upon  to  perform.  But  as  bad  as  his  general  reputation  was, 
he  had  what  was  called  a  political  pull  in  the  slums  district, 
in  which  he  resided.  He  had  a  following  of  his  own  class 
because  he  was  more  aggressive  and  more  physically  power- 


280  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

ful  than  his  associates  and  followers,  and  not  for  the  reason 
of  any  superior  intellect  on  his  part- 

A  couple  of  days  before  his  arrest  at  Oil  City,  complaint 
was  lodged  against  Daly  and  some  of  his  associates  by  a  man 
in  Buffalo,  who  charged  them  with  having  held  him  up  and 
robbed  him,  by  force,  of  a  sum  of  money.  The  man  also 
stated  that  Daly  and  his  confederates  had  brutally  beaten  him, 
the  marks  of  which  he  bore  plainly.  Two  police  officers  were 
instructed  to  arrest  Daly  and  bring  him  to  headquarters.  As 
all  the  officers  who  were  located  in  and  .about  the  precinct 
in  which  Daly  made  his  home  knew  him  personally,  the  two 
officers  who  were  detailed  to  make  his  arrest  easily  located 
him.  When  they  approached  him  and  told  him  that  they  had 
been  instructed  to  arrest  him  he  smilingly  inquired  on  what 
charge,  at  the  same  time,  as  the  officers  were  standing  within 
his  reach,  he  promptly  struck  first  one  and  then  the  other 
terrific  blows  with  his  clenched  fist,  knocking  both  of  them 
down.  He  then  ran  into  a  brothel,  or  dive,  in  front  of  which 
he  had  encountered  the  police  officers.  He,  of  course,  dis- 
appeared and  escaped  being  arrested. 

The  part  of  the  city  was  known,  at  that  time,  as  Rock  Street, 
or  the  Five  Points,  and  was  the  worst  and  lowest  district  of 
not  only  the  city  of  Buffalo,  but  probably  as  bad,  if  not  worse, 
than  any  other  in  the  country.  It  consisted  principally  of  low 
dance  halls  and  drinking  places  which  were  patronized  almost 
entirely  by  the  lower  grade  of  sailors  and  canal  boat  men.  As 
this  district  was  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Erie  Canal  and 
on  the  west  by  the  Buffalo  Creek,  which  is  the  lake  harbor 
of  Buffalo,  it  was  consequently  a  peninsula,  narrow,  and 
frequented  by  the  class  before  mentioned. 

After  his  escapade  with  the  police,  Daly, on  the  same  night, 
made  his  escape  from  Buffalo  and  went  direct  to  Oil  City,  Pa., 
where  he  had  some  friends  and  acquaintances.     He  arrived 


SUBDUING  A  NOTORIOUS  BULLY.  281 

at  Oil  City  the  next  day  about  noon,  where  he  met  parties 
whom  he  knew  and  from  whom  he  heard  about  the  prowess 
of  a  valuable  bulldog,  owned  by  a  respectable  citizen  named 
Ziegenheim,  and  who  was  connected  with  a  meat  market  on 
Center  Street.  This  man  Daly  was  about  thirty-five  years 
of  age,  was  over  six  feet  in  height  and  weighed  at  least 
two  hundred  pounds.  He  had  an  athletic  build,  was  dark 
complexioned  and  somewhat  marked  by  the  after  effects 
of  small-pox.  He  had  rather  small  dark  eyes  and  the  most 
villainous  expression  I  think  that  I  have  ever  seen.  He  was 
considered  an  expert  boxer  and  was  known  to  be  a  powerful 
man — at  least  by  the  two  police  officers  whom  he  had  knocked 
down  and  escaped  from  in  Buffalo.  I  had  heard  of  Daly  and 
knew  of  his  record,  but  I  had  never  seen  him  until  I  was 
called  upon  to  arrest  him  in  Oil  City,  and  I  did  not  know  who 
he  was  at  that  time. 

When  Daly  had  learned  from  the  friends  he  had  met  in 
Oil  City  of  the  valuable  fighting  bulldog  before  mentioned,  he 
at  once  went  to  the  meat  market,  where  he  found  Mr.  Ziegen- 
heim, and  tried  to  purchase  the  dog  from  him  for  the  purpose 
of  using  him  as  a  fighting  dog.  Ziegenheim  informed  Daly, 
in  a  polite  but  firm  manner,  that  his  dog  was  not  for  sale,  as 
it  was  a  pet  of  his  wife  and  children,  and  that  he  would  not 
part  with  the  dog  under  any  consideration,  and  especially  not 
for  the  purpose  Daly  proposed  to  use  him.  Daly  became 
angry  .and  assaulted  Ziegenheim,  who  was  fully  as  large  a 
man  as  Daly,  but  was  a  gentleman,  and  not  a  fighter.  Ziegen- 
heim immediately  sought  refuge  behind  a  large,  round  table, 
known  as  a  meat  block,  which  is  used  in  all  meat  markets  to 
cut  meat  on.  It  was  probably  about  four  feet  in  diameter, 
and  by  keeping  on  the  opposite  side  Ziegenheim  was  out  of 
Daly's  reach-  Daly  picked  up  a  large  cleaver,  which  he  was 
holding  in  a  threatening  manner.     At  this  juncture  I  entered 


282  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

the  shop,  having  been  summoned  by  Mr.  Steele,  Ziegenheim's 
employer,  who  had  run  from  the  meat  market  to  my  office, 
which  was  just  around  the  corner  in  the  same  block,  and  told 
me,  in  a  very  excited  manner,  that  there  was  a  big  man  try- 
ing to  kill  Ziegenheim  in  the  shop. 

At  the  time  that  Steele  came  into  my  office  I  was  talking 
with  the  Mayor,  William  M.  Williams,  and  when  Steele 
apprised  me  of  Mr.  Ziegenheim's  danger  I  sprang  to  my 
feet  and  was  about  to  leave  for  the  meat  market  when  the 
Mayor  said  to  me,  "Tom,  you  had  better  take  a  club  or  a 
gun  with  you.  Steele  has  said  Ziegenheim's  assailant  is  a 
big-,  strong  fellow."  I  hastily  grabbed  up  a  mace,  or  club, 
which  was  hanging  on  a  rack  near  where  I  was  standing,  and 
hastened  to  the  shop,  where  I  found  Daly  standing  in  front  of 
the  meat  block  before  described,  with  his  back  to  the  door.  He 
was  holding  a  cleaver,  as  I  said  before,  and  facing  Ziegen- 
heim, who  was  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  block.  I  approached 
him  from  the  rear  without  being  noticed  by  him,  and  placed 
my  left  hand  upon  the  right  collar  of  his  coat  as  though  I 
meant  it,  at  the  same  time  commanding  him  to  drop  the  cleaver- 
Whereupon  he  immediately  turned  his  head  and  looked  down 
upon  me  with  a  very  disdainful  and  defiant  expression.  I  saw 
in  his  eyes  the  most  vile  expression  that  I  have  ever  seen. 
I  instantly  realized  that  I  was  in  for  trouble.  He  was  wearing 
a  stifif  derby  hat  set  back  fairly  well  on  his  head,  and  it 
seemed  to  be  tight  fitting.  Upon  noticing  the  expression  on 
his  countenance  I  instantly  struck  him  as  hard  a  blow  as  I 
could  with  the  mace,  which  I  held  in  my  right  hand,  at  the 
same  time  tightening  my  grip  on  his  coat  collar  and  vest. 
However,  before  I  struck  him  he  made  a  desperate  back- 
ward lunge,  evidently  intending  to  get  clear  of  me  so  that 
he  might  get  far  enough  away  from  me  to  strike  me  with 
his  fists.     But,  by  reason  of  the  strong  hold  I  had  on  him  I 


SUBDUING  A  NOTORIOUS  BULLY.  283 

had  drawn  myself  up  close  to  him,  and  in  his  lunge  he  was 
so  much  heavier  and  larger  than  I  that  he  carried  me  back 
with  him,  probably  a  distance  of  four  or  five  feet-  It  was 
A'hile  he,  or  rather  we,  were  making  this  lunge,  that  I  struck 
him.  My  mace  caught  him,  or  more  truthfully  speaking,  his 
hat,  just  above  his  forehead.  It  forced  his  hat,  which  was 
a  stiff  one,  as  stated,  and  drove  it  down  over  his  forehead 
to  his  eyebrows.  The  hat  was  tight  and  the  lining  was  leather, 
and  with  the  force  of  the  blow  the  lining  cut  the  skin  clear 
across  the  top  of  his  forehead,  and  as  the  hat  was  forced 
down  the  skin  peeled  down  over  his  forehead,  and  of  course, 
the  blood  spurted  over  both  of  us.  He  fell  to  his  knees  with 
the  force  of  the  blow,  but  immediately  tried  to  rise,  when  I 
hit  him  a  second  time,  which  felled  him  to  the  ground.  I 
was  still  holding  on  to  his  collar,  and  when  he  fell  I  started 
for  my  office,  dragging  him  behind  me.  He  was  upon  his 
back  and  therefore  helpless  so  long  as  I  kept  him  moving.  He 
regained  consciousness  when  he  had  gone  about  a  hundred 
feet  and  began  pleading  with  me  to  let  him  up,  which  I  did, 
with  the  understanding  that  he  was  to  accompany  me  peace- 
ably.    This  he  agreed  to  and  did. 

It  being  at  the  time  of  the  day  when  the  streets  were 
crowded  with  people,  an  immense  crowd  was  attracted  by 
the  excitement,  and  a  great  many  comments  were  heard, 
many  of  them  condemning  my  action  as  brutal  and  uncalled 
for-  There  was  both  a  morning  and  an  evening  paper  pub- 
lished in  Oil  City  at  that  time.  The  evening  paper  got  out 
an  extra,  which  censured  me  severely,  .and  was  entirely  in 
accord  with  the  previous  comments  made  by  many  of  the 
crowd.  They  were,  by  the  way,  entirely  ignorant  of  the  facts 
which  led  me  to  act  as  I  had  found  it  necessary. 

The  crowd  filled  the  Mayor's  office  to  overflowing,  and 
among  those  present  were  a  few  friends  and  former  associ- 


284  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

ates  of  Daly's,  who  succeeded  in  getting  one  of  the  citizens, 
a  saloon  proprietor  and  considered  a  good  citizen  and  fairly 
well  off,  to  come  forward  and  intercede  with  the  Mayor,  who 
at  that  time,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania, 
was  a  committing  magistrate.  Daly's  friends  told  the  Mayor 
that  they  would  pay  his  fine  and  the  costs  and  would  see 
that  he  left  town  within  the  hour,  if  he  (the  mayor)  would 
let  Daly  go  upon  the  payment  of  the  fine  and  costs  for  his 
having  assaulted  Zeigenheim. 

The  Mayor  assented  and  fined  him  one  hundred  dollars 
and  costs,  three  dollars  and  fifty  cents,  making  a  total  of 
one  hundred  and  three  dollars  and  fifty  cents.  The  citizens 
before  mentioned  paid  this  fine  and  Daly  left  town  immediately 
thereafter-  He  gave  an  alias  to  the  Mayor,  and  his  friends 
did  not  betray  him,  and  for  this  reason  the  Mayor  or  myself 
did  not  know  who  he  was  until  after  he  had  departed. 

Mr.  St.  John,  who  was  the  editor  of  the  evening  paper,  and 
who  had  so  unmercifully  roasted  me,  had  always,  prior  to 
this  occurrence,  acted  in  a  friendly  manner  towards  me.  The 
write-up  that  he  had  given  me  that  evening,  therefore,  hurt 
my  feelings  beyond  description. 

A  Mr.  Bishop,  who  was  the  editor  and  proprietor  of  the 
morning  paper,  had  come  from  Buffalo,  where  he  was  born 
and  raised,  to  Oil  City,  and  he  at  once  took  it  upon  himself 
to  investigate,  through  correspondents  in  Buffalo,  by  wire, 
what  and  who  this  man  Daly  was.  The  result  of  which 
was  that  he  devoted  the  entire  first  page  of  his  paper,  on  the 
following  morning,  to  Daly's  complete  history,  setting  forth 
his  police  record,  his  vocation  .and  his  desperate  character,  as 
well  as  the  full  particulars  and  details  of  his  most  recent 
encounter  with  the  two  Buff'alo  police  officers,  his  escape 
from  Buffalo  and  his  subsequent  arrest  by  me  at  Oil  City.  The 
article  wound  up  with  the  most  complimentary  comments  that 


A  RUSE  THAT  WORKED.  285 

I  have  ever  received,  considerable  space  being  devoted  to  the 
fact  of  my  having  succeeded  in  subduing  and  arresting  Daly 
unassisted  by  any  one.  This  article  caused  a  majority  of 
those  who  had  so  loudly  denounced  my  actions  of  the  previous 
evening  to  apologize  for  their,  hasty  conclusions.  Mr.  St. 
John,  of  the  evening  paper,  was  among  the  first  to  approach 
me  with  an  apology  for  his  publication  of  the  evening  before. 

If  I  had  known  that  it  was  the  notorious  Tom  Daly  I  had 
been  called  upon  to  arrest  I  don't  believe  that  I  could  have 
been  pulled  into  that  meat  market  with  a  large  rope  attached 
to  my  neck ;  but  I  was  fully  convinced  that  prompt  and  decisive 
action  was  required  on  my  part  the  instant  that  I  saw  that 
vicious,  and  I  might  say,  hideous  expression  on  Daly's  face. 

The  result  of  this  arrest  had  more  to  do  with  securing  me 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  law-abiding  citizens  of  Oil 
City  than  any  other  one  arrest  that  I  had  ever  made,  and  I 
had  made  many  of  them. 


A  RUSE  THAT  WORKED. 

HOW    EVIDENCE    TO    CONVICT    AN    ANONYMOUS    LETTER    WRITER 

WAS  OBTAINED. TRAGIC    DEATH    OP    TWO    BROTHERS 

AFTER  THEIR  ARREST  AND  AFTER  BREAKING  JAIL. 

Early  in  the  1870's,  Sam  Ackert  'called  at  my  office  one 
cold  winter  morning  in  the  month  of  February-  I  was  then 
Chief  of  Police  of  Oil  City,  Pa.  Mr.  Ackert  was  known  to 
me  as  the  owner  of  a  large  oil  lease,  on  what  was  known  as 
the  Towles  Farm,  on  the  Plummer  Road,  about  eight  miles 
north,  and  a  little  east  of  Oil  City,  and  in  Venango  County. 
Mr.  Ackert  was  considered  at  that  time,  one  of  the  largest 
oil  operators  in  that  district.  He  was  operating  twelve  or 
fifteen  oil  wells,  all  of  which  were  producing  large  quantities 


286  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

of  oil.  Some  were  being  pumped,  while  others  were  flowing 
wells.  My  recollection  is  that  one  of  these  flowing  wells 
was  producing  four  hundred  barrels  per  day.  Crude  oil  was 
selling  at  that  time  for  about  eight  dollars  per  barrel  at  the 
well.  Ackert  employed  quite  a  large  number  of  men  to  at- 
tend to  the  wells  and  look  after  his  interests  in  general.  Some 
of  these  men  were  employed  as  engineers,  which  were  com- 
monly known  in  the  oil  country  as  pumpers.  Two  of  these 
engineers,  or  pumpers,  were  required  to  operate  each  well, 
each  man  usually  working  from  12:00  noon  until  12:00  mid- 
night. These  watches  were  morning  and  noon  watches,  and 
men  so  employed  usually  lived  adjacent  to  the  well  upon 
which  they  were  employed. 

Mr.  Ackert  had  a  superintendent  who  had  charge  of  the 
employes  and  who  lived  on  the  lease.  His  name  was  Joseph 
Sullivan.  He  also  had  two  engineers  wdiose  names  were 
George  and  Henry  Book.  George  Book  was  a  young  man, 
married  and  lived  in  a  cottage  on  the  lease.  His  brother 
Henry  was  single  and  lived  with  George.  George  was  the 
eldest.  They  were  both  employed  on  the  same  well  as  pumpers. 
George  was  on  the  noon  watch  each  day  and  was  considered 
a  very  good  engineer.  He  was  sober,  competent  and  attentive 
to  his  business;  while  his  brother  Henry  had  also  been  con- 
sidered competent  and  energetic, but  not  asreliableas George. 
He  had  been  found  asleep  while  on  duty  by  Supt.  Sullivan, 
on  various  occasions,  for  which  he  was  reprimanded  and 
finally  discharged  from  the  service. 

Some  months  after  Henry's  dismissal,  Mr.  Ackert  received 
an  anonymous  letter  through  the  mail.  This  letter  threatened 
dire  destruction  to  his  propej-ty  by  fire,  or  other  methods  un- 
less he  (Ackert)  would  discharge  Sullivan, his  superintendent. 
This  letter  was  followed  by  three  other  threatening  letters, 
also   anonymous,   which  were   received   at   intervals   of   four 


A  RUSE  THAT  WORKED.  287 

or  five  days  by  Ackert.  Sullivan  being  a  very  competent  and 
leliable  man  of  good  character,  Mr.  Ackert  at  first  did  not 
pay  any  attention  to  the  threatening  letters,  but  laid  them 
away  in  his  desk. 

'  A  short  time  after  the  receipt  of  the  last  anonymous  letter, 
one  of  his  oil  tanks,  which  at  the  time  contained  about  four  or 
five  hundred  barrels  of  crude  oil,  was  emptied  one  night,  be- 
tween dark  and  daylight,  by  some  person  who  had  gone  to 
the  tank  and  opened  what  was  known  as  the  lower  faucet. 
This  faucet,  two  inches  in  diameter,  entered  the  tank  about 
one-half  foot  above  the  bottom  of  the  tank,  and  was  placed 
there  so  that  by  opening  it  the  salt  water  could  be  drawn  out 
of  the  tank.  All  oil  wells  in  that  particular  locality,  which 
had  to  be  pumped,  produced  a  percentage  of  salt  water,  this 
water  coming  up  with  the  oil.  Salt  water  being  heavier  than 
the  oil,  immediately  settled  to  the  bottom  of  the  tank,  and  for 
that  reason,  as  the  tank  would  become  nearly  filled  to  its  top, 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  pumpers  to  open  this  salt  water  faucet 
and  let  the  salt  water  escape  from  the  bottom  of  the  tank,  in 
order  to  make  room  for  more  oil  above. 

On  the  night  that  thistankwas  emptied  in  themanner  above 
described,  there  was  about  three  feet  of  snow  on  the  ground. 
The  weather  was  cold,  and  the  snow  had  drifted  around  the 
tank  so  that  it  was  about  four  feet  deep  above  the  faucet  in 
question.  I  will  state  here  that  the  constant  drawing  off  of 
the  salt  water  had  thoroughly  saturated  thegroundforaspace 
of  two  or  three  feet  square  under  the  faucet,  .and  for  this 
son,  the  ground  was  soft  and  a  little  muddy.  The  saturated 
earth  would  not  freeze  in  cold  weather  on  account  of  the  large 
quantities  of  salt  which  had  become  impregnated  with  the 
dirt.  At  the  time  this  tank  was  emptied  by  means  of  the 
opening  of  the  faucet,  the  oil,  which  was  very  inflammable, 
ran  down  into  a  ravine,  which  was  thickly  dotted  with  oil  wells 


288  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

and  tanks  for  a  mile  or  more.  But,  fortunately,  the  flowing 
oil  did  not  happen  to  reach  any  of  the  fires  that  were  under 
the  boilers  of  the  pumping  stations.  If  it  had,  it  would  have 
instantly  burned  everything  within  reach  along  the  side  of 
the  ravine,  thereby  destroying  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars'  worth  of  property  and  in  all  probability  many  lives. 

Mr.  Ackert called uponmethe  morning  after  the  occurrence 
above  related  and  told  me  of  what  had  occurred,  stating  at 
the  same  time,  that  he  had  no  idea  who  was  dastardly  enough 
to  perpetrate  this  malicious  act.  He  knew  of  no  enemy  on 
earth  and  was  more  than  anxious  that  I  investigate  the  matter 
and  locate  the  party,  or  parties  guilty  of  the  crime.  He  also 
told  me  of  having  received  and  retained  the  anonymous  letters 
before  mentioned.  I  instructed  him  to  bring  the  letters  to  me 
at  once,  which  he  did.  I  noticed  that  the  letters  were  written 
on  the  same  brand  of  paper  and  in  a  legible  and  penmanlike 
manner  and  evidently  by  the  same  hand  and  pen.  By  the  end 
of  the  third  day  of  my  investigation  I  had  learned  of  the  dis- 
missal of  Henry  Book,  and  the  difficulties  he  had  had  with 
Supt.  Sullivan.  I  had  also  learned  that  his  brother,  George 
Book,  was  a  good  scholar,  had  been  a  country  school  teacher 
some  years  before  in  his  native  county,  which  was  Crawford 
County,  Pa.  I  had  also  found  out  that  he  was  considered  an 
extra  good  penman,  and  during  my  investigation  was  informed 
that  there  had  been  other  loots  of  oil  well  tools  and  other 
valuable  property  on  the  Ackert  and  adjacent  leases. 

I  decided  to  locate  the  writer  of  the  anonymous  letters.  Be- 
ing familiar  with  the  manner  of  operating  oil  wells,  I  donned 
the  suit  of  an  oil  driller,  which  usually  consists  of  overalls. 
These  overalls  become  spattered  over  with  sand  pumpings, 
giving  the  wearer  the  general  appearance  of  a  bill-poster. 
The  weather  was  very  cold,  the  thermometer  standing  below 
zero  the  night  that  I  left  Oil  City  to  visit  the  Ackert  Lease 


A  RUSE  THAT  WORKED.  289 

and  the  pumping  houses  where  I  knew  George  Book  would 
be  on  duty  until  midnight. 

That  evening,  preparatory  to  my  departure,  I  visited  a  meat 
marketkept  by  a  Mr.Steele,on  Center  Street,  where  I  purchased 
five  cents' worth  of  liver,  telling  Mr.  Steele  that  I  wanted  it 
for  a  pet  cat  that  stayed  around  my  office.     I  dressed  myself 
in  heavy,  warm  clothing,  which  I  wore  under  the  overalls  be- 
fore described.     Taking  a  small  slice  of  the  liver,  I  placed 
it  in  the  hollow  of  my  right  hand.    I  then  placed  another  piece 
of  the  liver  on  top  of  the  same  hand  and  tightly  bandaged  the 
hand  with  a  piece  of  white  muslin.    The  liver  placed  on  my 
hand  as  described,  soiled  the  tightly  drawn  bandage,  which 
gave  the  hand  the  appearance  of  being  very  swollen  and  in- 
flamed.    I  then  improvised  a  sling  around  my  neck  by  tying 
two  handkerchiefs  together  so  that   I  could   place  my   right 
hand   in  the   sling  at  the  proper  time.      I   started   from   Oil 
City,   unidentified  by   reason  of  my  costume,   at  about  7  :oo 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  arriving  at  the  Ackert  Lease  a  few 
minutes  after  nine.     I  went  direct  to  the  engine  house  in 
vx'hich  George  Book  was  employed,  found  him  sitting  alone 
there  in  a  large  easy  chair,  in  front  of  the  boiler,  which  was 
being  fired  with  natural  gas  .and  well  lighted  by  the  same,  was 
warm  and  neatly  kept.     Book  was  reading  a  novel  when  I 
entered,  and  as  the  engine  house  was  located  but  a  few  feet 
ofif  the  main  road  from  Oil  City  to  the  town  of  Plummer,  it 
was  not  an  unusual  thing  for  oil  well  men  to  stop  at  the  engitie 
house,   while   passing   that   way   for   the   purpose   of   getting 
warm  or  getting  a  drink.     So  Book  was  not  at  all  surprised 
when  I  appeared  at  that  hour  of  the  evening.     I  asked  his 
permission  to  stand  by  the  boiler  to  get  warm.     He  replied 
that  it  was  cold,  and  that  he  would  be  glad  of  my  company. 
He  eyed  me  closely  for  a  while  and  finally  said,  "Where  do  you 
work?"     I   replied  that  I  had  been  working  on  the  Foster 


290  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Farm,  which  was  about  fifteen  miles  southwest  of  Oil  City 
and  on  the  Allegheny  River.  He  then  remarked,  "How  did 
you  get  hurt?"  as  he  noticed  that  I  was  carrying  my  right 
hand  in  a  sling.  I  replied,  "You  have  been  kind  in  allowing  me 
to  get  warm  in  your  engine  house,  and  you  look  to  me  like 
you  would  not  get  a  fellow  into  trouble  by  giving  him  .away, 
and  I  will  tell  you  all  about  it."  I  began  by  saying,  "You 
see,  I  am  a  driller  and  I  was  working  under  a  superintendent. 
We  had  trouble  over  a  girl  and  he  had  a  gun.  He  shot  me 
through  the  hand."  I  pulled  my  hand  out  of  the  sling  and  he 
exclaimed,  "Gracious !  You  have  an  awful  hand  there  and  you 
should  have  medical  attention  at  once."  To  which  I  replied, 
"I  am  going  to  have  it  attended  to  when  I  reach  Petroleum 
Center.  You  should  see  the  other  fellow,  I  shot  him,  but  I 
don't  know  whether  he  is  dead  or  not,  as  I  left  immediately 
and  have  walked  the  entire  distance,  only  stopping  long 
enough  to  get  a  cup  of  coffee  at  the  eating-house  in  the  depot 
at  Oil  City."  He  said,  "You  must  be  hungry."  His  sympathy 
was  now  fully  aroused  and  he  was  really  a  good-hearted  fellow. 
I  then  said  to  him,  I  have  some  friends  at  Petroleum  Center 
who  will  keep  me  under  cover  and  get  me  a  doctor,  but  what 
is  worrying  me  most  now  is  that  I  cannot  write  with  my  left 
hand, and  my  folks  live  at  Ft.  Erie,  Canada,  which  is  just  across 
the  Niagara  River  opposite  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  I  have  been  saving 
my  money  and  sending  it  to  my  people  at  Fort  Erie,  and  they 
have  it  deposited  in  a  bank  at  Buffalo  to  my  credit.  I  have 
a  few  hundred  dollars  there  and  if  I  could  only  write  a  letter 
to-night,  and  mail  it  on  the  early  train  to-morrow  morning 
it  would  reach  Fort  Erie  to-morrow  night.  My  friends  could 
then  send  me  all  the  money  that  I  need,  which  I  would  receive 
the  day  after  to-morrow  at  Petroleum."  To  this  he  replied, 
"I  am  a  pretty  good  penman,  and  would  be  glad  to  write  the 
letter  for  you."    On  saying  this,  he  excused  himself  and  went 


A  RUSE  THAT  WORKED.  291 

to  his  house,  which  was  close  by,  and  returned  in  a  few  min- 
utes with  letter  paper,  envelopes,  and  a  nice  big  lunch  for  two 
and  a  pot  of  hot  coffee.  We  ate  the  lunch,  and  I  had  some 
cigars  in  my  pocket.  Then  he  started  to  write  the  letter  at 
my  dictation.  In  dictating  the  letter  I  used  as  many  of  the 
words  .as  I  could  intelligently  get  in  which  had  been  used  in 
the  anonymous  letters,  the  contents  of  which  I  had  familiarized 
myself  with.  This  letter  of  mine  was  not  necessarily  very  long, 
as  I  discovered  that  he  was  using  the  same  quality  of  paper 
upon  which  the  anonymous  letters  were  written.  I  also 
noticed  before  he  had  written  three  lines,  that  it  was  the  same 
handwriting  .and  that  he  was  using  the  same  ink,  and  no  doubt, 
the  same  pen,  that  he  had  used  in  writing  the  anonymous  let- 
ters. He  addressed  the  envelope,  sealed  and  stamped  it.  I 
thanked  him  and  departed  for  Petroleum  Center,  apparently, 
but  in  reality  for  Oil  City,  where  I  arrived  about  six  o'clock 
in    the    morning. 

Duringthe  forenoon  I  submitted  my  dictated  letter,  togeth- 
erwiththe  anonymous  letters, to  an  expert  whowasconnected 
with  the  First  National  Bank  of  Oil  City.  He  unhesitatingly 
stated  that  the  letters  were  all  written  by  the  same  person-  I 
then  went  back  in  the  afternoon  to  the  Lease,  knowing  as  I  did 
that  George,  whom  I  had  met  the  night  before,  would  be  off 
duty  and  probably  in  bed.  I  carefully  shoveled  the  snow  from 
around  the  faucet  of  the  tank,  and  when  I  got  down  to  the 
ground,  I  found  two  very  distinct  tracks  of  a  No.  8  boot.  The 
boots  had  been  recently  half-soled,  the  shoemaker  who  had 
made  the  repairs  having  placed  three  nails  in  a  row  across 
the  center  of  the  half-soles-  This  was  his  trade-mark.  I  soon 
located  the  shoemaker  who  had  done  this  work.  He  remem- 
bered having  repaired  the  boots  for  Henry  Book  a  couple 
of  days  before  the  emptying  of  the  tank. 

I  then  returned  to  Oil   City,  procured  a  warrant   for  the 


292  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

arrest  of  the  Book  brothers,  and  that  night  about  eleven 
o'clock  I  arrived  at  the  Ackert  Lease,  where  I  found  George 
on  duty,  as  he  had  been  the  night  before,  and  I  found  Henry 
in  bed  at  George's  house.  On  this  occasion  I  was  accompa- 
nied by  two  of  my  officers.  We  drove  out  in  a  sleigh.  After 
making  the  arrest,  we  searched  the  house  which  was  a  one- 
story  building  with  an  attic.  In  the  attic  we  found  wagon 
loads  of  loot,  from  the  Ackert  Lease  and  adjacent  leases,  that 
was  afterwards  identified  by  the  Owners,  as  having  been  stolen 
from  time  to  time,  as  before  mentioned. 

The  Book  brothers  in  due  time,  had  a  preliminary  hearing 
and  were  committed  to  the  County  Jail  in  default  of  bail. 

In  the  meantime  Henry  Book  had  confessed  to  having 
emptied  the  oil  tank  and  George  admitted  the  writing  of  the 
anonymous  letters.  About  a  week  before  their  trial  was  to 
take  place,  there  was  a  general  jail  delivery  at  Franklin,  Pa., 
effected  one  very  stormy  night.  There  were  fifteen  or  more 
prisoners  who  escaped.  The  Book  brothers  were  among  them. 
They  boarded  a  north  bound  freight  on  the  A.  &  G.  AV.  R.  R. 
which  is  now  known  as  the  "Erie."  When  at  a  point  about 
twenty  miles  north  of  Franklin  this  freight  train  collided 
with  another  train.  In  the  wreck  Henry  Book  was  killed 
instantly  and  George  was  so  badly  hurt  that  he  died  the  follow- 
ing day.     Thus  ended  the  Ackert  case. 

I  consumed  in  all  not  to  exceed  six  days  in  connection 
wath  this  case,  unassisted  except  upon  the  night  of  the  arrests, 
when  I  was  accompanied  by  two  of  my  officers,  whose 
names  were  George  W.  Frye  and  Max  Fulton. 


CHARLIE  DALTON,  OUTLAW. 

SPECTACULAR   ARREST    OF    THIS    MUCH-WANTED    MAN    ON    A 
CROWDED  ST.  LOUIS  STREET  CAR 

The  arrest,  in  St.  Louis,  on  the  evening-  of  March  12,  li 
of  the  notorious  Charlie  Dalton,  was  accomplished  in  a  rather 
unique,  yet  sensational  manner.  Dalton  had  been  "scouting" 
for  a  couple  of  years,  with  a  large  reward  offered  by  the 
state  of  Texas  and  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  hanging 
over  his  head.  Almost  every  sheriff,  police  officer  and  de- 
tective in  the  country  had  his  description  and  were  looking 
for  him.  The  charge  was  murder,  and  the  crime  was  com- 
mitted during  the  1886  strike  on  the  Gould  properties.  On  the 
afternoon  of  April  3,  1886,  a  freight  train  pulled  out  of  Fort 
Worth,  Texas,  for  New  Orleans,  Louisiana.  Besides  the 
regular  crew,  the  train  carried  a  number  of  guards  in  charge 
of  Jim  Courtwright,  a  noted  western  officer,  who  had  formerly 
been  Chief  of  Police,  Sheriff  and  Deputy  United  States 
Marshal  at  Fort  Worth. 

As  the  train  neared  the  Fort  Worth  and  New  Orleans 
crossing,  it  was  fired  on  by  a  gang  of  outlaws  and  cut-throats, 
headed  by  Dalton,  who  were  in  ambush  behind  a  pile  of 
ties  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  right-of-way.  Two  of  the 
guards  were  killed  outright  and  several  wounded.  The 
crime  created  a  great  sensation  throughout  the  entire  coun- 
try, because  of  its  dastardliness. 

The  St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat  of  March  13,  1886,  edi- 
torially referred  to  it  as  the  "Fort  Worth  Massacre." 

Dalton  and  some  of  his  gang  were  indicted  by  the  Grand 
Jury,  but  when  the  officers  began  a  hunt  for  them  they 
had  disappeared.  Circulars  announcing  the  amount  of  the 
reward  and  giving  a  description  of  the  men  wanted,  were 
scattered  almost  broadcast  over  the  United  States,  Canada 
and  Mexico. 


294  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

I  received  one  of  them,  studied  it  carefully  and  got  into 
communication  with  the  officers  at  Fort  Worth.  I  had 
never  seen  Dalton,  but  I  had  seen  his  brother,  Geary,  who 
was  connected  with  the  track  department  of  the  Missouri 
Pacific  Railroad,  in  St.  Louis,  where  he  lived.  I  noticed 
a  resemblance  in  the  photo  I  had  of  Charlie  to  that  of  his 
brother,  and  had  instructed  my  operatives  to  keep  a  sharp 
lookout  for  Charlie,  as  I  had  learned  that  his  mother  was 
then  residing  in  Carondelet.  In  the  latter  part  of  February, 
1888,  one  of  my  operatives  reported  that  he  had  learned 
from  a  reliable  source  that  the  much-wanted  man  had  been 
seen  at  his  mother's  home  in  Carondelet.  Whereupon,  I 
took  measures  to  have  the  premises  watched.  I  later 
learned  that  he  had  been  making  a  practice  of  visiting  the 
Standard  Theatre  nightly. 

On  learning  this,  I  arranged  with  the  Chief  of  Police 
of  St.  Louis  to  detail  a  couple  of  his  men  to  visit  the  Stand- 
ard Theatre  nightly,  where  I  should  have  one  of  my  men, 
who  knew  Dalton,  on  hand,  so  that  he  might  point  him 
out  to  the  officers,  and  they  were  to  arrest  him.  These 
arrangements  were  all  completed  on  the  afternoon  of 
March  12,  1888. 

At  about  six  o'clock  that  evening  I  left  my  office  for 
home.  I  then  lived  at  2723  Walnut  Street,  and  I  walked 
to  the  corner  of  Eighth  and  Market  Streets,  where  I 
boarded  a  horse-car  for  home.  The  car  proceeded  west 
and  when  we  got  to  the  corner  of  loth  and  Market  Streets, 
two  good  sized,  rough-looking  young  men  ran  to  the  rear 
end  of  the  car  and  swung  themselves  onto  the  platform, 
one  of  them  lighting  heavily  on  my  right  foot  and  hurting 
me  very  much.  His  partner  followed  him  and  stood  on 
the  lower  step.  This  man,  who  had  tramped  on  my  foot, 
ofifered  no  apology  for  his  rudeness,  and,  in  fact,  paid  no 


CHARLIE  DALTON,  OUTLAW,  295 

attention  to  me  or  the  injury  he  had  done,  but  instead  re- 
marked to  his  partner  that  people  ought  to  get  out  of  the 
way  when  they  saw  a  person  wanting  to  catch  a  car.  His 
partner  said,  "Charlie,  we  can't  stay  out  at  Geary's  but  a 
few  minutes,  as  you  know  I  have  got  tickets  for  the  Stand- 
ard tonight  and  we  must  get  there  early  to  get  good  seats." 

"We  won't  stay  out  there  only  long  enough  to  say 
goodbye,  as  we  leave  town  in  the  morning,"  replied  Charlie. 

While  they  were  talking  I  took  a  good  look  at  the  man 
addressed  as  Charlie,  and  from  the  conversation,  and  from 
the  resemblance  he  had  to  his  brother,  I  concluded  that 
the  man  thus  addressed  was  Charlie  Dalton.  I  knew  who 
Geary  was,  and  I  saw  the  resemblance  that  "Charlie"  bore 
to  him.  I  also  knew  that  the  car  would  necessarily  have 
to  pass  what  was  then  known  as  the  Mounted  Police  Sta- 
tion, located  between  27th  and  28th  Streets,  on  Market 
Street,  and  before  reaching  Geary's  house,  and  I  decided 
that  when  we  got  in  front  of  the  station  I  would  arrest  Mr. 
Dalton  and  lock  him  up  there.  He  was  standing  directly 
in  front  of  me  on  the  platform  and  had  me  crowded  up 
against  the  rear  dashboard.  He  was  a  burly  fellow,  con- 
siderably taller  than  I  was,  and  would  weigh  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  pounds.  Having  become  satisfied  that  I 
had  made  no  mistake  in  his  identity,  I  waited  until  we 
had  arrived  in  front  of  the  police  station,  when  I  seized  him 
by  the  coat  collar  with  my  left  hand,  pulled  the  bell-cord, 
and  after  the  car  had  slowed  up  I  sprang  to  the  ground, 
taking  Dalton  with  me,  but  as  he  struck  the  street,  he  fac- 
ing the  car,  he  fell  on  his  back,  and  I,  still  holding  onto  his 
coat  collar,  reached  for  his  pistol,  which  I  was  sure  I  would 
find,  and  I  was  not  disappointed,  for  there  it  was  in  the 
waist  band  of  his  trousers,  and  proved  to  be  a  41  Colts. 
Dalton  then  made  an  attempt  to  rise,  but  I   took  all  of 


296  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

the  fight  out  of  him  by  giving  him  a  blow  over  the  head 
virith  his  own  weapon. 

"What  is  this  for?"  he  asked. 

"Your  name  is  Charlie  Dalton  and  you  are  under  arrest 
for  murder,"  I  replied. 

"My  name  is  Charlie  Dalton,  all  right,  by  G-d,  partner," 
he  exclaimed. 

I  then  took  him  by  the  collar  and  assisted  him  to  his  feet. 
I  took  the  prisoner  over  to  the  police  station  and  had 
him  locked  up,  and  later  wired  the  Fort  Worth  authorities 
that  I  had  arrested  Charlie  Dalton,  and  he  was  being  held 
by  the  police  of  St.  Louis,  subject  to  their  orders.  In  due 
time  I  received  a  reply  from  the  Chief  of  Police  of  Fort 
Worth,  requesting  me  to  bring  Dalton  to  that  city,  pro- 
viding he  would  go  without  waiting  for  requisition  papers. 
Dalton,  having  already  informed  me  that  he  would  go  to 
Texas  without  requisition  papers,  I  left  with  him  for  Ft. 
Worth  the  following  evening.  On  our  arrival  there  the 
prisoner  was  lodged  in  jail,  and  remained  there  a  number 
of  months  without  bond. 

Between  the  date  of  the  crime  and  the  arrest  of  the  cut- 
throat a  number  of  witnesses  against  him  had  died.  Others 
had  left  the  state,  and  the  result  was  that  when  his  trial 
was  called  the  state  was  unable  to  produce  its  evidence  and 
the  defendant  was  finally  released  from  custody. 

While  it  is  true  that  I  was  anxious  to  apprehend  this 
outlaw  for  the  Texas  authorities,  and  had  just  finished 
making  preparations  to  do  so  should  he  visit  the  Standard 
Theatre  that  night,  because  of  his  known  desperate  char- 
acter, and  the  further  fact  that  he  was  accompanied  by  a 
big,  husky  pal,  I  doubt  that  I  would  have  attempted  his  ar- 
rest single-handed,  had  it  not  been  for  the  incidents  enum- 
erated.    I  know  I  would  not  have  recognized  him  on  this 


CONSPIRATORS  HANDED  A  LEMON.  297 

crowded  car  had  not  his  rudeness  attracted  my  attention 
especially  to  him.  The  remarks  of  his  pal  settled  the  ques- 
tion of  his  identity  in  my  mind,  and  the  pain  in  my  foot 
and  his  insolence  aroused  my  ire.  The  arrest  followed, 
and  it  has  a  moral — "People  should  be  careful  as  to  whose 
toes  they  trample  on." 


CONSPIRATORS  HANDED  A  LEMON. 

SENSATIONAL  ENDING  OF  AN   ATTEMPT  TO   BRIBE   ONE   OF  FUR 
long's   OPERATIVES   IN   THE   NOTED  MILES  WILL  CASE. 
HOW   THE    CONSPIRACY    WAS   EXPOSED. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  '90s,  Stephen  B.  Miles,  a  wealthy 
resident  of  Nebraska,  died,  leaving  an  estate  consisting  of 
lands  in  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  bank  stocks  and  bonds,  and 
other  property  valued  at  several  millions  of  dollars.  He 
was  survived  by  a  wife,  from  whom  he  had  been  divorced, 
two  sons,  Joseph  H.  and  Samuel,  and  a  daughter,  a  number 
of  nieces  and  nephews  and  several  grand-children.  One 
of  the  sons,  Joseph  H.,  was  a  prominent  banker  and  busi- 
ness man  of  Falls  City,  Nebraska,  and  also  had  large  in- 
terests in  other  towns  in  that  state.  He  had  been  a  tele- 
graph operator  in  his  younger  days,  and  was  highly 
esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him,  not  only  as  a  good  citizen, 
but  a  wide-awake,  clean  business  man. 

The  other  son,  Samuel,  was  about  forty  years  of  age,  and 
resided  with  his  family  on  one  of  his  father's  ranches  over 
the  Nebraska  line  in  Kansas.  He  had  been  rather  wild  in 
his  younger  days  and  h^d  caused  his  father  much  trouble 
because  of  his  dissolute  habits. 

Shortly  after  the  death  of  the  elder  Miles,  a  will  was 
found  in  an  old   suit  case,  the  provisions  of  which  made 


298  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Joseph  H.  Miles  executor  and  trustee  of  the  estate,  and 
the  chief  beneficiary,  Samuel  being  left,  besides  some 
money,  a  life  interest  in  the  ranch  on  which  he  and  his 
family  were  living.  At  the  death  of  him  and  his  wife  the 
ranch  was  to  be  deeded  to  Samuel's  children.  The  will 
also  plainly  provided  that  Samuel  could  not  either  entail 
or  dispose  of  the  land. 

The  provisions  of  the  will  were  very  unsatisfactory,  of 
course,  to  Samuel  Miles,  and,  at  the  suggestion  of  his 
counsel,  he  began  court  proceedings  to  prevent  the  pro- 
bating of  it,  and,  not  succeeding  in  this,  later  brought  suit 
to  have  the  will  set  aside. 

In  1900  I  had  in  my  employ  an  operative  by  the  name  of 
D.  F.  Harbaugh.  This  man  had  become  well  known  and 
had  obtained  considerable  newspaper  notoriety  in  and 
about  Kansas  City  through  cases  he  had  worked  on  under 
my  instructions.  One  day  Harbaugh  was  approached  in 
Kansas  City  by  one  of  the  lawyers  employed  to  break  the 
will,  and  asked  if  he  (Harbaugh)  could  find  a  man  whose 
former  reputation  had  been  good,  who  would  go  on  the 
witness  stand  and  testify  to  having  drawn  up  and  witnessed 
a  will  made  by  the  elder  Miles,  while  on  one  of  his  numer- 
ous trips  to  St.  Louis  during  his  life  time.  During  the  talk 
the  lawyer  told  Harbaugh  all  about  the  conspiracy  that 
had  been  formed  to  break  the  will — by  "finding"  a  later 
will,  and  gave  the  names  of  all  connected  with  the  scheme. 
One  of  these  men  was  a  prominent  lawyer  in  Falls  City, 
Nebraska,  another  a  man  of  great  prominence  at  Omaha, 
and  who  had  a  big  political  pull  throughout  the  state, 
while  another  was  in  good  standing  at  the  bar  in  St.  Louis 
at  that  time.  Harbaugh  was  further  told  that  he  would  be 
paid  a  fee  of  $10,000  for  his  part  when  the  will  was  broken, 
and  as  a  further  compensation  the  lawyer  would  send  him 


CONSPIRATORS  HANDED  A  LEMON.  299 

to  the  Paris  Exposition  and  back,  paying  all  expenses  up 
to  the  sum  of  $5,000.  Harbaugh  agreed  to  give  the  lawyer 
an  answer  in  a  few  days,  and  left  that  evening  for  St.  Louis. 

The  next  morning  Harbaugh  told  me  all  about  the  proposi- 
tion that  had  been  made  to  him,  and  asked  for  my  opin- 
ion as  to  the  best  thing  to  do.  I  at  once  said,  "There  seems 
io  be  but  two  things  to  do  in  this  case.  One  is,  for  you  to 
<:ompletely  ignore  the  proposition,  as  there  can  be  no  doubt 
as  to  the  rascality  of  all  the  parties  who  are  in  any  way  con- 
nected with  the  scheme.  The  other,  and  in  my  opinion,  the 
right  thing  to  do,  is  for  us  to  try  and  locate  this  man 
Joseph  H.  Miles,  and  appraise  him  of  the  conspiracy  that 
is  being  worked  up  by  these  lawyers  and  his  own  brother 
against  him.  For,  if  we  keep  quiet  and  ignore  the  matter, 
they  will,  in  all  probability  secure  a  man  who  will  accept 
the  proposition  and  we  would  be  parties  to  this  conspiracy 
for  not  having  exposed  it." 

"Well,"  replied  Harbaugh,  "you  are  the  boss,  and  it  is  up 
to  you.  I  have  told  you  all  I  know  about  the  matter.  I 
told  this  lawyer  that  his  proposition  was  very  important, 
and  coming  to  me  suddenly  I  would  need  a  few  days  to 
think  the  matter  over,  and  it  would  require  at  least  a  few 
days  to  select  the  right  kind  of  a  man — one  that  could  be 
trusted.  He  approved  of  this  and  expects  an  answer  from 
me  in  a  week  or  ten  days." 

I  at  once  undertook  to  locate  Joseph  H.  Miles,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  twelve  hours.  I  found  that  he  lived  at  Falls 
City,  Nebraska,  that  he  was  president  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  that  place,  had  a  bank  in  another  Nebraska  city, 
and  had  a  large  interest  in  a  bank  in  York,  Pa.,  that  he  was 
a  respectable  citizen  and  prominent  business  man,  and  very 
well  known.  After  locating  him  I  wrote  him  a  letter, 
which  read  about  as  follows : 


300  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Mr.  Joseph  H.  Miles, 

Falls  City,  Nebraska. 
Dear  Sir: 

If  you  are  the  son  of  the  late  Stephen  B.  Miles,  and  have 
a  brother  by  the  name  of  Samuel  Miles,  and  a  number  of 
nephews  and  nieces  who  reside  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska, 
I  have  important  information  for  you,  and  will  impart  it 
personally  if  you  will  come  to  St.  Louis. 

I  would  suggest  that  you  bring  your  lawyer,  as  I  believe 
my  information  important  enough  to  justify  you  in  so  do- 
ing. 

On  receipt  of  this  I  wish  that  you  would  telegraph  me, 
stating  when  you  will  leave  Falls  City,  and  at  what  time 
you  will  arrive  at  St.  Louis.  On  arriving  at  St.  Louis,  go 
to  the  Planters  Hotel,  look  at  the  register  where  you  will 
find  my  name,  and  you  can  then  come  direct  to  my  room, 
where  I  will  be  waiting  for  you  and  your  attorney. 

I  am  using  a  fictitious  name,  for  reasons  that  I  will  ex- 
plain to  you  when  I  see  you. 

Yours  very  truly 

On  receipt  of  the  above  letter  Mr.  Miles  wired  me 
promptly  that  he  would  leave  Falls  City  the  same  evening 
and  would  arrive  at  St.  Louis  the  following  morning,  via 
the  Burlington  Route,  and  would  carry  out  instructions 
as  per  my  letter. 

I  went  to  the  Planters  Hotel  that  evening,  registered 
under  the  name  I  had  given  Mr.  Miles,  and  was  assigned 
to  a  room  on  the  fourth  floor. 

The  next  morning  about  eight  o'clock,  ]\Ir.  Joseph  H. 
Miles,  accompanied  by  his  lawyers,  Ex-Judge  Gillespie  of 
Falls  City,  and  Ex-Judge  Martin,  of  the  same  place,  and 
the  latter's  son  who  was  a  stenographer.  I  admitted  them, 
and  Mr.  Miles  stated  Iiis  name,  and  asked  if  I  v/as  Mr. 
Foster,  to  which  I  replied  in  the  affirmative.     He  intro- 


CONSPIRATORS  HANDED  A  LEMON  301 

duced  the  other  gentlemen  and  after  they  were  seated  I 
began  my  story  by  saying: 

"Gentlemen,  my  name  is  Thomas  Furlong,  and  I  used 
the  name  of  Foster  in  writing  to  Mr.  Miles,  because  my 
name  and  business  are  known  to  a  great  many  people  in 
Nebraska,  and  a  party  connected  with  what  I  know  to  be 
a  conspiracy  against  Mr.  Miles,  resides,  and  is  an  old  citi- 
zen of  Falls  City,  and  would  probably  know  my  name  if 
he  heard  it,  and  I  did  not  know  but  what  he  miglit  be  con- 
nected with  or  know  people  connected  with  the  telegraph 
office,  and  would  thus  learn  that  I  had  communicated  with 
Mr.  Miles,  so  I  deemed  it  advisable  not  to  use  my  own 
name.  Now,  gentlemen,  before  I  give  you  the  information 
that  I  have  promised  I  wish  that  you  would  call  on  any  of 
the  general  managers  of  any  of  the  railroads  that  enter  St. 
Louis,  or  the  president  of  any  bank  in  the  city  whom  you 
may  know,  and  ask  him  as  to  my  character  and  standing. 

Mr.  Miles  asked,  "Does  Mr.  William  Nickolson  know 
you?" 

I  replied  that  Mr.  Nickolson  knew  me  very  well.  Mr. 
Miles  said,  "Mr.  Nickolson  is  my  correspondent  here  and 
has  charge  of  more  than  a  million  dollars  of  our  estate." 

We  walked  over  to  Mr.  Nickolson's  bank  and  Mr.  Miles 
entered  the  private  office,  leaving  me  standing  in  the  cor- 
ridor outside.  As  he  entered  the  office  he  left  the  door 
open.  Mr.  Nickolson  arose  and  greeted  him,  and  at  the 
same  time  spoke  to  me.  After  the  greeting,  Mr.  Miles 
said   to  Mr.  Nickolson,  'T  see  that  you  know  Mr.  Furlong." 

"Yes,"  replied  Mr.  Nickolson,  "I  have  known  Tom  for 
years,  and  he  is  welcome  to  anything  I  have." 

Mr.  Miles  said,  "Mr.  Furlong  told  me  that  you  knew 
him  and  insisted  on  me  coming  down  here  and  asking 
you  about  his  standing  in  St.  Louis." 


302  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

After  a  little  further  conversation  Mr.  Miles  shook  hands 
with  Mr.  Nickolson  and  we  returned  to  my  room  at  the 
Planters,  where  Judges  Martin  and  Gillespie  and  the 
stenographer  were  awaiting  us.  I  then  related  in  detail 
the  story  that  I  had  recently  heard  from  Harbaugh.  After 
I  had  completed  the  narative,  all  of  which  was  taken  in 
shorthand  by  the  stenographer,  the  younger  Mr.  Martin. 
Harbaugh  was  sent  for  and  he  verified  the  statements  I 
had  made  to  the  gentlemen.  The  conference  then  ad- 
journed, the  luncheon  hour  having  arrived.  All  parties 
again  assembled  in  my  room  at  the  Planters  at  two  o'clock, 
when  Judge  Martin  said,  "We  have  been  considering  this 
statement  of  yours,  Mr.  Furlong.  We  have  known  for 
some  time  that  these  lawyers  you  have  named  have  been 
trying  to  make  trouble,  but  did  not  know  until  you  told 
us  today  just  what  they  intended  to  do,  and  now  I  want 
to  say  that  Mr.  Miles  and  myself  appreciate  what  you  have 
done  in  this  matter  so  far,  and  we  are  anxious  for  your 
opinion  as  to  what  you  think  is  the  best  way  to  proceed." 

To  which  I  replied,  "I  believe  the  best  way  to  proceed 
would  be  for  Harbaugh  to  go  to  the  lawyer  in  Kansas  City 
and  tell  him  that  he  would  accept  his  proposition,  and  that 
he  would  secure  a  man  who  could  be  relied  on,  and  who 
would  assume  that  he  had  written  the  will  for  the  elder  Mr. 
Miles.  I  would  then  select  a  man  that  I  could  trust  and 
turn  him  over  to  Harbaugh.  Harbaugh  would  take  him  to 
Kansas  City  and  put  him  under  the  guidance  of  the  lawyer. 
After  these  conspirators  had  thoroughly  posted  and  in- 
structed this  man,  whom  they  will  expect  to  deliberately 
commit  perjury,  they  will  probably  have  his  deposition 
taken  in  St.  Louis.  He  will  take  the  stand  and  be  able  to 
answer  all  questions  put  to  him  until  asked  if  he  wrote  the 
will.     When  he  is  asked  this  question,  being  under  oath, 


CONSPIRATORS  HANDED  A  LEMON.  303 

of  course,  he  will  tell  the  truth.  In  this  way  we  will  be  able 
to  prove  the  enormity  of  the  crime  and  the  cool  audacity  of 
the  parties  connected  with  it." 

I  turned  to  Mr.  Miles  and  said,  "That  is  my  opinion,  but 
if  you  do  not  approve  of  it  and  prefer  to  employ  some  one 
else  to  handle  this  case  for  you,  you,  of  course,  are  at  liberty 
to  do  so.  I  felt  that  it  was  my  duty  to  advise  you  of  this 
conspiracy  and  the  manner  in  which  I  had  received  my  in- 
formation." 

Judge  Martin  said,  "Mr.  Furlong,  we  want  you  to  handle 
this  case  for  us,"  and  Mr.  Miles  nodded  his  head  and  said, 
"Yes,  I  want  you  to  handle  this  case  for  me,  and  to  handle 
it  in  your  own  way,  and  I  will  pay  you  your  regular  charge, 
allow  you  the  expenses  incurred,  and  pay  you  extra  for 
your  service."  I  told  Mr.  Miles  that  I  did  not  expect  any- 
thing of  that  sort,  as  I  did  not  believe  in  rewards  and  nevef 
worked  for  them.  He  insisted,  however,  on  paying  me  ex- 
tra for  my  services,  which  he  did,  and  I  divided  it  equally 
with  Harbaugh. 

I  instructed  Harbaugh  to  go  to  Kansas  City  and  get  in 
touch  with  the  crooked  lawyer,  which  he  did.  I  selected  a 
man  whom  I  knew  well  and  believed  to  be  honest.  I  instructed 
him  as  to  what  I  wanted  him  to  do,  and  in  due  time  he  was 
introduced  to  the  Kansas  City  lawyer,  by  Harbaugh.  The 
lawyer  began  instructing  him  and  gave  him  a  minute  de- 
scription of  the  deceased  Stephen  B.  Miles,  whom,  of  course, 
this  man  had  never  seen.  He  posted  him  as  to  a  room  in 
the  old  St.  James  Hotel  that  had  been  occupied  by  Stephen 
B.  Miles  in  one  of  his  trips  to  St.  Louis.  This  was  the  place 
where  the  fake  will  was  supposed  to  have  been  written. 
The  lawyer  was  pleased  with  the  man  I  had  sent  and  feasted 
and  dined  him  on  several  occasions  when  he  was  in  Kansas 
City  rehearsing  the  part  he  was  to  play  in  the  conspiracy. 


304  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

In  the  meantime  Harbaugh  had  grown  to  be  the  apple 
of  the  crooked  lawyer's  eye,  and  from  the  good  treatment 
he  received  from  this  creature  Harbaugh  had  begun  to 
admire  him  for  his  liberality. 

At  last  a  day  was  set  for  the  taking  of  the  deposition  of 
the  man  who  was  supposed  to  havq  written  the  will. 
Due  notice  was  served  on  the  respective  parties  interested, 
and  at  the  appointed  time  our  man  appeared  at  the  office 
of  the  St.  Louis  attorney,  and  the  taking  of  his  deposition 
began.  After  being  duly  sworn,  the  St.  Louis  representa- 
tive of  the  conspirators  began  to  examine  the  witness  in 
the  usual  way,  asking  a  few  preliminary  questions,  and  at 
last  reached  the  question,  "Did  you  know  Stephen  B.  Miles, 
deceased,  and  did  you  not  write  this  will  for  him?"  indicat- 
ing a  paper  he  had   in  his  hand. 

The  witness  said,  "I  have  known  a  number  of  men  by 
the  name  of  Miles.  Allow  me  to  describe  one  of  them  and 
if  his  description  suits  I  will  be  able  to  answer  your  ques- 
tion." 

I  had  previously  requested  Mr.  Allies'  attorneys  to  let 
the  St.  Louis  lawyer  do  all  the  questioning  and  examining, 
and  not  to  object  to  any  question  that  he  might  put  to 
the  witness,  unless  it  was  entirely  out  of  reason.  There- 
fore, they  merely  sat  still,  carefully  noting  everything  and 
objecting  to  nothing. 

Of  course,  the  conspirators  were  anxious  to  get  a 
strong  deposition  from  the  witness,  and,  therefore,  he  was 
permitted  to  describe  the  man  Miles,  for  whom  he  was 
supposed  to  have  written  the  will.  The  St.  Louis  attorney 
kept  nodding  approval  to  his  fine  description  of  the  dead 
man.  When  he  had  fully  described  Mr.  Stephen  B.  Miles 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  conspirators,  he  took  the  pur- 
ported will  and  examined  it  carefully,  saying  "The  hand- 


CONSPIRATORS  HANDED  A  LEMON.  305 

writing  on  that  document  looks  like  my  handwriting,  but 
(in  a  loud,  clear  voice)  I  did  not  write  this  or  any  other 
will  for  Mr.  Stephen  B.  Miles,  or  any  other  person.  I  have 
never  met  the  man  Stephen  B.  Miles,  nor  the  man  that  I 
have  just  described.  I  was  instructed  to  give  the  descrip- 
tion that  I  have  given  here  by  these  lawyers  (pointing  to 
the  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  lawyers,  who  were  both 
present)  and  I  was  expected  by  them  to  testify  that  I  had 
written  this  will,  and  I  was  promised  five  thousand  dollars 
if  I  would." 

The  reader  can  easily  imagine  the  consternation  that 
reigned  among  the  conspirators  at  this  testimony  from  the 
one  they  trusted  would  be  their  star  witness.  Our  man 
left  the  stand  and  the  further  taking  of  testimony  was  dis- 
continued, it  is  needless  to  add. 

Mr.  Miles  and  his  attorneys  believed  that  these  con- 
spirators had  ceased  their  efforts  for  a  time,  but  later  on 
they  produced  another  man  whom  they  claimed  had  writ- 
ten the  second  will  for  Stephen  B.  Miles.  He  was  a  young 
man,  also  a  lawyer,  and  had  at  one  time  lived  in  St.  Louis 
for  a  short  time,  married  there,  and  had  gone  to  Old 
Mexico.  He  was  discovered  in  Mexico  by  the  Kansas 
City  outfit  and  induced  to  come  back  to  Chicago,  Illinois, 
where  his  deposition  was  taken.  He  claimed  to  have  writ- 
ten the  will  for  an  old  man  in  St.  Louis,  but  he  was  either 
afraid  to  describe  him  or  could  not  do  so,  therefore  his 
testimony  was  worthless. 

The  conspirators  continued  to  try  to  break  the  original 
will  until  it  was  finally  pronounced  legal  and  valid  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Nebraska,  and  Joseph  H.  Miles'  rights 
were  thoroughly  and  legally  established. 

During  this  litigation,  however,  two  of  the  parties  in 
the  conspiracy  died,  and  the  others  were  not  prosecuted 


306  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

for  complicity,  although  their  actions  had  put  Joseph  H. 
Miles  to  considerable  trouble  and  expense.  They  had 
made  several  indirect  propositions  to  Air.  Miles  looking  to 
a  compromise,  but  he  promptly  repelled  all  of  them. 

Harbaugh's  connection  with  my  service  has  long  since 
been  severed,  and  he  is  now  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Joseph 
H.  Miles  as  manager  of  his  large  stock  range  in  Nebraska, 
not  far  from  Falls. City,  where  the  writer  is  informed  he 
is  doing  well. 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE. 

HOW    THE    BLOWS    WHICH    CAUSED    THE    DEATH    KNELL    OF    THE 

KNIGHTS    OF    LABOR    WERE    ADMINISTERED. — STIRRING 

SCENES  AND  INCIDENTS   CONNECTED  WITH 

THE   BIG  STRIKE   OF   1886. 

If  you  ha\'e  an  ambition  to  lead  a  strenuous  life,  young 
man,  and  feel  that  excitement  would  serve  as  a  tonic  for 
your  nervous  system,  and  you  want  to  gratify  your  ambi- 
tion and  secure  the  tonic  in  greater  than  homeopathic 
doses,  both  at  the  same  time,  just  get  yourself  appointed 
chief  special  agent  of  a  big  railroad  during  a  general  strike. 
I  am  "dopeing"  you  right,  for  I  have  been  "on  the  job" 
on  several  occasions  during  a  strike,  consequently  know 
what  I  am  writing  about  The  most  strenuous  thirty  days 
of  my  long  career,  however,  were  the  thirty  days  in  1886, 
when  the  whole  southwestern  system  of  Gould  roads 
were  tied  up,  and  there  was  nothing  doing  in  tKe  traffic 
line.  While  there  had  been  dififerences  between  the  shop- 
men and  the  company  for  some  time,  these  differences  were 
considered  trivial,  and  neither  side  had  expected  that  they 
would  result  in  a  strike,  consequently  neither  the  men  nor 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE. 


307 


the  company  were  prepared  for  the  struggle  when  it  be- 
gan— at  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  March. 
The  shopmen,  as  well  as  many  other  employes  of  the  Gould 
roads,  including  engineers,  firemen  and  trainmen,  were 
nearly  all  members  of  the  Knights  of  Labor.     Organizers 


Martin  Irons. 

Chairman  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  strike  committee  on 

the  Gould  System  in  1886. 

and  professional  labor  agitators  had  been  busy  all  along 
the  line  for  months,  coaxing  and  coercing  the  men  into 
the  order.  Martin  Irons  had  been  selected  as  chairman 
of  the  grievance   committee,   and   while   in   Texas   attend- 


308  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

ing  a  meeting-  of  the  committee,  called  the  strike,  without 
consulting  the  national  officers  of  the  organization,  a  viola- 
tion of  one  of  the  order's  most  stringent  rules.  He  after- 
wards admitted  that  he  would  not  have  called  the  strike 
had  he  been  sober. 

Irons  was  a  little  weazen-faced  Scotch-Irishman,  with 
a  past — as  most  of  these  professional  labor  agitators  have. 
At  the  time  of  the  strike  he  v/as  on  the  payroll  as  a  ma- 
chinist of  the  Pacific  Company  at  Sedalia,  where  he  was 
living  with  what  is  now-a-days  called  an  affinity,  he  having 
deserted  his  wife  and  several  children  in  Ray  County  years 
before.  He  was  thoroughly  unreliable,  a  drunkard,  and 
was  hated  by  most  of  his  followers.  There  were  two  re- 
deeming things  about  him,  however.  A  good  voice  was 
one  of  them.  He  could  have  earned  a  large  salary  as  a 
train-caller  or  a  barker  for  a  tent  show,  and  he  was  a  good 
actor.  Notwithstanding  his  repulsive  appearance,  and  the 
fact  that  the  shopmen  did  not  like  him,  he  could  sway  them 
as  he  pleased,  if  granted  the  privilege  of  addressing  them 
— fill  them  with  either  tears  or  indignation,  as  best  suited 
the  occasion.  He  never  made  a  speech  in  his  life,  though, 
during  which  he  did  not  pay  his  respects  to  me  and  my 
men,  and  tell  how  we  were  shadowing  and  hounding  him 
day  and  night.  He  did  this  to  create  sympathy.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  there  never  was  a  time  when  any  of  Gould's 
c-a-p-i-t-a-1-i-s-t-i-c  b-1-o-o-d  h-o-u-n-d-s,  to  use  his  own  fa- 
vorite expression,  were  ever  on  his  trail.  He  was  always  re- 
garded by  my  men  and  myself  as  a  harmless  demagogue, 
and  not  capable  of  doing  anything  that  would  cause  us 
much  trouble.  In  fact,  the  only  thing  he  ever  did  in  which 
he  did  not  leave  a  trail  behind  him  as  wide  as  a  railroad 
right-of-way,  was  the  wire-tapping  job  he  supervised  dur- 
ing the  strike,  which  will  be  referred  to  later. 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE.  309 

As  stated  previously,  the  strike  was  called  at  ten  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  March  4,  1886.  The  sound  of  the  big 
whistle,  the  blowing  of  which  was  the  signal  for  the  men 
to  quit  work,  had  hardly  died  away  before  the  main  yards 
of  the  company  at  St.  Louis,  which  were  just  west  of  the 
]>ld  Twelfth  St.  station,  were  filled  with  a  mob  of  at  least 
ten  thousand  Knights  of  Labor  and  sympathizers.  The 
company's  shops  at  Chouteau  and  29th  Streets  were  also 
at  once  taken  possession  of  by  the  strikers  and  their  friends. 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  many  of  the  employes  of 
the  company  were  loyal,  and  did  not  want  to  leave  their 
jobs,  these  demonstrations  caused  them  to  do  so.  A  call 
was  sent  in  to  police  headquarters  by  General  Superintend- 
ent Kerrigan,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  operation  of  the 
Missouri  Pacific  and  Iron  Mountain  roads,  in  the  absence 
of  Vice-President  and  General  Manager  Hoxie,  who  was 
detained  at  his  home  on  account  of  illness,  asking  for  police 
protection  for  the  company's  loyal  employes  and  property. 
Maj.  Lawrence  Harrigan,  then  chief  of  police,  responded 
to  this  call  by  detailing  Sergt.  Jack  Campbell,  who  was 
afterwards  chief  of  police,  and  eighteen  men  for  duty  on 
the  company's  property.  The  reader  can  easily  imagine 
the  predicament  in  which  this  little  handful  of  officers 
found  themselves  in  attempting  to  handle  a  mob  of  at  least 
ten  thousand.  On  orders  from  Mr.  Kerrigan,  I  secured 
three  engines  and  crews,  and  we  began  to  make  up  a 
train.  At  this  sign  of  activity  the  mob  became  frantic. 
Two  of  the  engines  were  soon  derailed  and  disabled.  I 
then  placed  my  force  of  special  ofificers,  which  consisted  of 
but  a  few  men,  on  the  remaining  engine,  and  attempted  to 
continue  the  switching  of  cars  in  order  to  get  out  a  train 
of  perishable  goods,  but  we  could  not  make  any  headway, 
as  the  mob  pulled  the  pins,  threw  switches,  derailed  cars 


310  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

and  otherwise  interfered  with  the  work.  After  a  couple 
of  hours  had  been  thus  consumed,  I  suggested  to  Mr.  Ker- 
rigan that  we  had  furnished  enough  entertainment  for  the 
mob  for  one  day,  and  told  him  I  was  going  to  take  the  en- 
gine to  the  round  house  to  keep  it  from  being  disabled. 
"Do  you  think  you  can  succeed  in  doing  it,  Tom?"  asked 
Mr.  Kerrigan.  "1  will  do  my  best,"  I  replied.  "For  good- 
ness sake,  do  it,  then,  and  when  you  get  through  come  to 
my  office  as  I  want  to  consult  with  you." 

The  engine,  which  had  been  abandoned  by  the  engineer 
and  fireman,  was  standing  just  east  of  12th  St.,  a  portion 
of  it  being  under  the  viaduct  which  spanned  that  thorough- 
fare. The  viaduct  was  lined  with  spectators  and  strikers 
and  their  sympathizers,  many  of  the  latter  being  armed 
with  paving  stones,  links,  pins,  etc.  As  I  climbed  aboard 
the  cab  some  miscreant  hurled  a  paving  stone  at  me.  It 
came  within  a  few  inches  of  landing  on  my  head.  It  is 
needless  to  state  that  if  it  had  struck  me  I  would  not  be 
writing  this  story.  David  R.  Francis,  at  that  time  Mayor 
of  St.  Louis,  was  viewing  the  situation  from  the  viaduct, 
and  witnessed  the  attempt  on  my  life.  Turning  to  Robert 
S.  McDonald,  former  Circuit  Attorney,  and  a  well-known 
lawyer,  the  Mayor  exclaimed,  "That  man  Furlong  will  get 
killed  by  that  mob."  After  the  incident,  I  espied  the  en- 
gineer standing  in  the  crowd.  I  called  to  him  in  a  loud 
voice,  "Come  here  and  let  us  take  this  engine  to  the  round- 
house." On  hearing  this  a  mighty  shout  went  up  from  the 
mob,  and  there  was  much  rejoicing  and  clapping  of  hands, 
they  thinking  they  had  achieved  a  great  victory — just 
what  I  wanted  them  to  think.  The  engineer  climbed  on 
the  engine  and  we  made  the  trip  to  the  roundhouse  with- 
out molestation. 

After  the  engine  had  been  safely  placed  in  its  stall,  I 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE.  311 

went  at  once  to  the  office  of  General  Superintendent  Ker- 
rigan. After  thoroughly  discussing  the  situation  which 
confronted  us,  I  suggested  that  he  call  on  Judge  Portis, 
at  that  time  General  Attorney  of  the  Missouri  Pacific,  and 
insist  on  him  preparing  a  legal  notice  to  be  served  on  the 
Mayor  and  Police  Board  and  sheriff  of  St.  Louis,  setting 
forth  that  the  company  was  being  hindered  in  the  opera- 
tion of  its  property  within  the  City  and  County  of  St. 
Louis,  and  State  of  Missouri,  by  a  mob;  that  the  company 
had  many  hundred  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  perishable 
property  in  its  cars  in  the  yards  in  St.  Louis,  and  also  had 
plenty  of  competent  and  loyal  employes  who  were  willing 
and  anxious  to  do  the  work  of  switching  the  cars  and 
running  the  trains,  but  were  prevented  from  doing  so  by 
said  mob.  Therefore,  the  company,  after  the  serving  of 
this  notice,  intended  to  hold  the  said  city  and  county  and 
state  liable  for  all  damages  sustained  by  the  company  by 
reason  of  said  mob's  interference,  as  aforesaid.  Mr.  Ker- 
rigan, acting  on  this  suggestion,  immediately  called  in 
Judge  Portis,  C.  G.  Warner,  general  auditor,  W.  H.  New- 
man, the  general  freight  traffic  manager,  and  some  other 
officers  of  the  road,  and  had  me  repeat  the  suggestion  to 
them,  which  I  did.  The  attorney  did  not  take  kindly  to 
the  proposition  at  first,  but  at  the  demand  of  Mr.  Kerrigan 
the  notices  were  prepared,  and  later  served  on  the  officials 
named. 

The  receiving  of  these  notices  by  the  officials  awakened 
them  to  their  responsibilities.  That  evening  a  meeting  of 
the  Police  Board  was  called  by  President  Blair,  and  at  its 
close  an  order  was  issued  to  Chief  of  Police  Llarrigan,  in- 
structing him  to  don  his  uniform  early  the  next  morning 
and  lead  every  available  man  in  the  department  to  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  yards,  where  he  was  to  so  station  his  men  that 


312  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

none  but  loyal  employes  could  enter  the  yards.  The 
board's  orders  were  carried  out,  the  chief  causing  a  line  of 
men  to  be  formed  around  the  yards  before  the  strikers 
had  entered  upon  the  property  of  the  company. 

At  the  head  of  a  force  of  twenty-eight  men,  including  a 
full  train  crew,  conductor,  engineer,  fireman  and  three 
brakemen,  I  made  up  a  train  of  ten  cars  and  started  west 
with  them.  We  were  not  molested  until  we  arrived  at  the 
Compton  Avenue  crossing.  At  this  point  a  number  of 
strikers  under  the  leadership  of  a  notorious  agitator  named 
Geary,  were  seen  on  the  track.  Each  striker  carried  a 
small  American  flag,  which  they  stuck  up  in  the  middle 
of  the  track  at  the  crossing,  and  then  every  one  began 
signalling  us  to  stop,  shouting  to  us  that  "we  did  not  dare 
run  over  an  American  flag." 

I  want  to  state  right  here,  that  no  man  in  this  country 
has  a  greater  respect  for  Old  Glory  than  I  have.  I  put  in 
four  years,  one  month  and  eight  days  defending  it  on  one 
occasion,  and  thus  helped  to  make  it  what  it  is  today,  and 
it  made  me  feel  pretty  bad  to  see  it  put  to  the  use  it  was 
on  this  occasion,  and  it  is  the  only  time  in  my  life  that  I 
failed  to  pay  the  flag  the  respect  due  it.  To  make  the 
story  shorter,  we  paid  no  attention  to  the  flags,  and  would 
have  run  over  the  mob  had  they  not  skeedaddled  out  of 
the  way  of  that  train. 

At  the  city  limits,  Sergt.  Campbell,  who  had  been  rid- 
ing on  the  engine  with  me,  left  the  train,  and  we  continued 
on  our  journey  westward.  Sitting  on  the  running  board  on 
either  side  of  the  engine  I  had  two  men,  Billy  Bonnell  and 
Mike  Gibbons,  each  armed  with  a  shot  gun.  On  the  dead- 
wood,  or  cowcatcher,  in  front  of  the  engine,  I  had  two 
other  men,  Jim  McCane  and  W.  K.  Moir,  each  armed  with 
revolvers,  and  each  carrying  a  clawbar.     We  had  expected 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE.  313 

to  find  some  spiked  switches,  and  these  clawbars  were  to 
be  used  in  pulHng  the  spikes.  The  balance  of  my  guards, 
all  armed,  were  placed  in  the  caboose  and  on  top  of  the  box 
cars.  No  trouble  was  encountered  until  we  neared  Pacific. 
We  pulled  into  the  town  slowly,  with  all  brakes  set,  so 
there  would  be  no  slack  in  the  train,  thus  making  it  im- 
possible for  any  one  to  dodge  in  between  the  cars  and  pull 
the  pins,  thus  uncoupling  the  cars.  We  knew  a  lot  of 
strikers  had  gone  out  to  Pacific  over  the  Frisco  that  morn- 
ing, and  expected  trouble  on  arriving  at  that  town.  We 
were  not  disappointed.  The  first  switch  encountered  had 
been  turned  for  the  side  tracks  and  spiked,  as  had  every 
other  switch  leading  from  the  main  line.  My  men  who 
were  armed  with  clawbars  soon  pulled  the  spikes  and  re- 
set the  switches  and  we  slowly  creeped  into  the  town. 
The  strikers  were  holding  a  meeting  in  an  old  brick  house 
on  the  first  road  east  of  Pacific,  but  on  hearing  our  train 
coming  the  meeting  was  broken  up  and  the  men  ran  to 
a  sand  bin  located  just  east  of  the  depot  and  took  refuge 
behind  it.  As  our  train  pulled  by  this  sand  bin  at  least 
lOO  shots  were  fired  at  the  train.  Strange  to  say,  not  one 
of  my  men  was  hurt,  but  the  cab  and  caboose  and  some  of 
the  cars  were  badly  splintered  by  the  bullets.  After 
pulling  by  the  sand  bin  the  mob  ran  after  the  train,  and 
one  of  the  leaders,  named  Davis,  picked  up  a  drawbar  and 
rushed  to  the  front  of  the  caboose,  which  he  was  enabled 
to  do  as  we  were  running  so  slowly,  and  attempted  to 
throw  the  draw  bar  under  the  front  wheels  of  the  caboose, 
for  the  purpose  of  derailing  it.  He  would  probably  have 
succeeded  had  not  Marshall  F.  McDonald,  the  noted  St. 
Louis  attorney,  who  had  volunteered  to  act  as  one  of  my 
guards,  saw  what  the  man  was  attempting  to  do.  The 
lawyer  was  so  enraged  at  Davis'  audacity  that  he  picked 


314  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

up  a  coupling  pin,  which  was  lying  on  the  platform  of  the 
caboose,  and  hit  the  striker  over  the  head  with  it.  It 
is  needless  to  add  that  we  had  no  more  trouble  with  Davis 
that  day,  as  he  went  down  for  the  count,  as  the  sporting 
writer  would  put  it. 

When  we  were  fired  upon  by  the  mob  entrenched  behind 
the  sand  bin,  I  had  hard  work  to  control  my  men,  they 
wanting  to  return  the  fire.  I  had  previously  told  them  not 
to  fire  a  shot  without  my  orders,  but  in  the  event  I  was 
compelled  to  order  them  to  fire,  I  had  instructed  them  to 
shoot  to  kill.  After  the  first  volley,  and  there  being  no  re- 
turn fire,  the  strikers  concluded  the  guards  were  afraid  to 
shoot,  and  immediately  set  about  to  uncouple  the  train. 
In  this  they  were  foiled,  as  they  could  not  pull  the  pins. 
They  then  tried  to  climb  to  the  top  of  the  cars  for  the 
purpose  of  disarming  the  guards  and  throwing  them 
from  the  train.  In  this  they  were  again  foiled,  for  the 
guards,  using  their  weapons  for  clubs,  beat  them  off.  As 
soon  as  a  striker's  head  appeared  at  the  top  of  the  ladder 
he  received  a  blow  over  it  that  caused  him  to  cither  fall  to 
the  ground  or  scamper  back  down  the  ladder.  Many  of 
them  were  badly  injured,  either  from  the  fall  or  the  blow 
from  the  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  guards.  One  of 
the  mob  singled  me  out  and  kept  peppering  away  at  me 
with  a  revolver.  One  of  my  men,  Mike  Gibbons,  from 
his  seat  on  the  running  board  of  the  engine,  and  who  was 
armed  with  a  shotgun,  wanted  to  "get"  this  man,  but  I 
would  not  let  him  do  it.  The  fight  was  fast  and  furious, 
however,  and  lasted  until  our  train  had  passed  through 
the  town. 

Our  train  met  with  no  further  trouble  of  importance 
until  we  arrive  at  Chamois,  the  end  of  the  first  freight 
division.     Here  the  foreman  of  the  round  house  had  de- 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE.  315 

serted  his  post  and  joined  the  strikers,  and  was  acting 
as  leader,  and  not  one  of  the  company's  employes  were 
on  duty — that  is,  for  the  company.  As  soon  as  we  pulled 
in  the  strikers  surrounded  the  train,  but  attempted  no 
acts  of  violence,  they  evidently  being  over-awed  at  the 
sight  of  the  twenty-two  armed  guards.  I  made  a  short 
but  "impressive"  talk  to  the  men,  using  as  near  as  I 
can  recall  it,  the  following  language : 

"Gentlemen,  I  am  special  agent  of  the  Missouri  Pacific 
Railroad.  These  men  you  see  with  me  here  are  in  my 
department.  We  have  no  grievances  against  the  company 
and  are  in  no  way  interested  in  this  strike,  except  to 
protect  life  and  property.  I  want  to  convey  to  you,  Mr. 
Foreman,  the  thanks  of  the  management  of  the  company 
to  yourself  and  your  associates  for  the  good  care  you  have 
taken  of  the  company's  property.  I  am  here  now  with  these 
men  to  relieve  you  of  any  further  responsibility  in  the  mat- 
ter, and  all  of  you  are  hereby  notified  to  get  ofif  and 
stay  ofif  of  the  company's-  right-of-way  until  the  trouble 
has  been  satisfactorily  adjusted.  If  you  attempt  to  get 
back  on  the  right-of-way,  or  in  any  manner  attempt  to 
interfere  with  my  men  while  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties, 
or  with  the  movement  of  trains,  or  commit  other  depreda- 
tions, you  are  liable  to  get  shot." 

At  the  conclusion  of  my  talk  the  strikers  left  the  com- 
pany's premises.  On  investigation  I  found  19  "dead"  engines, 
that  is,  19  engines  from  which  the  water  had  been  re- 
moved. The  supply  water  tank  was  also  as  dry  as  the 
proverbial  powder  horn,  and  the  pumping  machinery  dis- 
abled, parts  of  the  engine  having  been  removed,  and  as 
I  afterwards  learned  thrown  into  the  little  creek  from 
which  the  water  to  supply  the  tank  was  obtained.  As 
it  was  getting  late  in  the  day  I  went  over  to  the  hotel  to 


316  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

make  arrangements  for  getting  supper  for  my  men  and 
crew.  The  proprietor  told  me  there  was  nothing  doing, 
as  he  did  not  want  to  take  chances  on  getting  his  build- 
ing burned  down  by  the.  Knights  of  Labor.  All  of  the 
balance  of  the  regular  eating  houses  and  boarding  houses 
in  the  town  refused  to  accommodate  us  for  the  same  rea- 
son. They  had  been  notified  by  the  committee  not  to  do 
so.  They  would  be  boycotted  if  they  did,  and  it  had  been 
intimated  that  even  greater  punishment  might  be  meted 
out  to  them  in  case  the  committee's  orders  were  violated. 
Later  a  good  old  German  lady  named  ISIrs.  Stoeppleman, 
who  had  two  sons  who  were  loyal  employes  of  the  company, 
sent  for  me  and  told  me  she  was  not  afraid  of  the  Knights 
of  Labor,  and  cared  nothing  about  a  bo3'cott  or  what  her 
neighbors  might  say,  and  she  would  feed  us  if  we  desired 
her  to  do  so.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  we  accepted  of  her 
hospitality.  After  a  good  supper,  I  learned  where  the 
missing  parts  of  the  pumping  engine  had  been  thrown, 
and  two  of  my  men,  Messrs.  iMcCane  and  ]\Ioir,  who  were 
both  good  machinists  and  engineers,  were  set  to  work  to 
repair  the  engine.  The  water  in  the  creek,  where  the 
missing  parts  of  the  engine  had  been  thrown,  was  about 
four  feet  deep,  and  was  partially  covered  with  ice.  McCane 
and  Moir  entered  the  icy  water,  while  I  and  others  held 
torches,  and  fished  out  the  missing  parts.  The  engine 
was  repaired,  and  by  morning  we  had  the  supply  tank 
nearly  full  of  water. 

Early  the  next  morning,  we  fired  up  one  of  the  dead 
engines,  and  attaching  it  to  the  train  of  ten  cars,  sent  it 
on  to  Sedalia  in  charge  of  a  crew  and  two  guards.  Leav- 
ing eleven  men  at  Chamois  in  charge  of  Mr.  W.  K.  Moir,  I 
made  up  a  train  of  15  loaded  cars,  and  with  the  remainder 
of  my  men  started  on  our  return  trip  to  St.  Louis.     No 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE.  317 

trouble  occurred  until  our  arrival  at  Pacific,  where  the 
scenes  attending  our  arrival  there  the  day  before  v^ere 
partially  re-enacted.  We  got  through  Pacific  without  any 
serious  trouble,  however,  and  arrived  in  St.  Louis  about 
2:00  P.  M. 

The  St.  Louis  strikers  had  not  been  idle  while  I  was 
out  on  the  road,  however.  On  pulling  into  the  Chouteau 
Avenue  yards  the  first  thing  I  saw  was  that  the  big  turn- 
table had  been  put  out  of  commission.  The  strikers  had 
deliberately  run  an  engine  into  the  pit,  not  only  blocking 
the  turntable,  but  badly  damaging  the  engine. 

The  next  morning  (Wednesday)  Mr.  Kerrigan  sent  for 
me  to  call  at  his  office.  On  arriving  I  was  told  that  the 
strikers  had  attacked  the  Washington  acccommodation, 
containing  three  coaches  loaded  with  passengers  bound  for 
St.  Louis,  at  Gray's  Summit,  a  little  station  west  of  Pa- 
cific, and  had  run  the  train  onto  a  siding  and  "killed"  the 
engine.  I  at  once  repaired  to  the  Chouteau  Avenue  yards, 
and  taking  an  engine,  attached  it  to  a  coach,  into  which  I 
placed  ten  picked  men,  all  well  armed,  and  the  run  was 
made  to  Gray's  Summit  in  fairly  good  time.  The  strikers 
and  sympathizers  soon  dispersed  when  commanded  to  do 
so  by  me.  One  of  my  men,  Jim  McCane,  who  was  an 
experienced  engineer,  disconnected  the  disabled  engine, 
taking  ofif  the  side  rods,  and  in  a  remarkably  short  time 
we  had  coupled  the  disabled  engine  and  the  coaches  on 
behind  our  coach.  We  then  ran  our  engine  to  a  "Y"  west 
of  the  little  town,  and  after  turning  it  around  brought 
the  passengers  safely  to  St.  Louis,  where  we  arrived  a 
little  before  dark.  The  rescue  of  this  passenger  train 
was  the  entering  wedge  which  broke  the  strike. 

On  arriving  at  the  roundhouse  that  evening,  a  messengei 
was  awaiting  me  with  a  note  from  General  Manager  Kerri- 


318  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

gan,  asking-  me  to  call  at  his  office  at  Sixth  and  Locust 
streets  to  consult  with  the  officers  of  the  company.  On 
arriving  at  Mr.  Kerrigan's  office  I  found  Mr.  Newman, 
freight  traffic  manager,  and  Mr.  Werner,  the  general  audi- 
tor, awaiting  me.  These  three  gentlemen  were  handling 
the  strike  situation  for  the  company  in  the  absence  of 
Vice-President  and  General  Manager  Hoxie.  They  had 
learned  of  the  conditions  at  the  Chouteau  avenue  shops, 
of  the  running  of  the  engine  into  the  turntable  pit,  and 
also  of  the  large  number  of  men  the  strikers  had  on  guard, 
both  outside  and  inside  of  the  fence  which  surrounded  the 
shops.  Mr.  Kerrigan,  recognizing  the  fact  that  we  could 
do  but  little  without  engines,  and  as  all  the  engines,  save 
one  or  two,  were  safely  locked  within  the  round  house, 
expressed  himself  as  wishing  to  again  get  possession  of 
the  roundhouse.  In  discussing  the  best  means  of  doing 
this  the  gentlemen  thought  it  best  to  call  on  the  police 
department  for  enough  men  to  drive  the  strikers  away.  I 
told  them  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  do  that,  as  I  could 
get  possession  of  the  shops  at  any  time.  "How  can  you 
do  it,  Tom?"  asked  Mr.  Werner.  "It  will  not  take  as  long 
to  do  the  job  as  it  will  to  tell  you  about  it,"  I  replied, 
and  further  told  them  that  we  would  be  in  possession  of 
the  shops  again  by  daylight  the  next  morning,  if  they  so 
desired.  They  told  me  to  go  ahead  and  get  possession 
of  the  shops  in  my  own  way.  At  that  time  I  knew  where 
I  could  get  my  hands  on  between  forty  and  sixty  of  my 
men.  I  sent  messengers  to  hunt  up  these  men,  instructing 
them  to  report  to  me  on  the  Handlan  lot,  southeast 
corner  of  Grand  and  Laclede  avenues,  promptly  at  2  -.7,0 
the  next  morning.  They  were  further  instructed  to  slip  into 
the  rendezvous  quietly,  not  more  than  one  or  two  going 
in  together  at  a  time,  and  all  were  given   a  pass  word 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE.  319 

by  which  they  would  be  able  to  identify  each  other.  At 
the  time  fixed,  forty-six  men  had  reported,  all  well  armed. 
I  formed  them  into  a  double  line,  and  after  cautioning 
them  to  be  careful  about  stumbling  or  coughing,  or  mak- 
ing a  noise  of  any  kind,  marched  them  down  Grand  avenue 
to  the  railroad  track,  and  then  down  to  the  west  gate  of 
the  fence  surrounding  the  shops.  On  arriving  there  and 
finding  the  gate  fastened  on  the  inside,  four  men  were 
boosted  over  the  high  fence.  These  men  soon  had  the 
gate  open  and  the  balance  marched  in.  Immediately  on 
entering  the  shopyard  the  men  split  ranks,  half  going 
to  the  right  and  the  other  half  to  the  left,  Jim  McCane 
heading  one  squad  and  I  the  other.  The  strikers  had 
placed  pickets  every  few  rods  all  along  the  inside  oi 
the  fence,  but  our  entrance  had  been  made  so  suddenly 
and  noiselessly  that  these  pickets  had  no  time  to  sound  an 
alarm.  They  were  quickly  disarmed  of  their  clubs,  or 
bludgeons,  and  taken  along  with  us  from  one  station  to 
the  other,  until  every  picket  in  the  yard  had  been  captured. 
They  were  taken  to  the  gate  and  boosted  out.  We  then 
entered  the  shops,  where  we  found  many  strikers  asleep 
on  benches  and  work  tables.  These  were  thrown  out  of 
the  building  before  they  hardly  had  tim@  to  get  their 
eyes  open.  A  good  sized  crowd  of  watchers  and  beer-can- 
ners  were  on  the  outside  of  the  east  gate  of  the  fence. 
These  men,  too,  were  driven  from  the  right-of-way.  By 
daylight  we  were  again  in  complete  possession  of  the 
shops,  as  I  had  promised  my  superiors  we  would  be,  with- 
out a  blow  being  struck  or  any  one  hurt. 

I  then  sent  trusted  men  down  into  the  city  to  the 
quarters  where  men  out  of  work  usually  congregate,  with 
instructions  to  hire  all  the  men  they  could  find  and  quietly 
get  them  into  the  shops  in  small  groups.     I  did  not  care 


320  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

what  the  previous  occupations  of  these  men  had  been,  just 
so  they  were  able-bodied.  It  did  not  make  any  difference 
to  me  whether  they  had  ever  seen  the  inside  of  the  rail- 
road shop  before.  All  I  wanted  was  men — men  who  could 
make  a  noise.  We  soon  had  a  sufficient  number  of  these 
men  inside  of  the  shops  to  serve  my  purpose.  Engines 
were  fired  up,  fire  was  built  in  the  blacksmith  forges  and 
th-e  big  engine  in  the  powerhouse  was  set  in  motion.  In 
fact,  to  those  on  the  outside  of  the  shop  who  could  see  the 
smoke  coming  out  of  the  smoke  stacks  and  hear  the  noise, 
and  to  those  who  could  get  a  peep  through  the  gates,  the 
shops  presented  a  scene  of  great  activity.  Men  were 
pounding  great  moulten  pieces  of  iron  on  the  blacksmiths' 
anvils,  while  others  were  pounding  aAvay  on  big  pieces  of 
boiler  iron,  but  they  were  not  blacksmiths  or  boilermakers; 
they  were  simply  playing  a  part  assigned  to  them  by  the 
master  mechanic  and  myself.  Other  men  represented 
machinists,  while  others  were  painters,  car  repairers  and 
helpers. 

Of  course,  all  these  actors  and  guards  had  to  be  fed, 
so  we  established  a  commissary  and  a  kitchen  and  brought 
in  a  lot  of  cots  for  these  men  and  guards  to  sleep  on,  which 
were  placed  in  the  building.  To  those  who  are  not  familiar 
with  the  handling  of  strikers,  I  will  tell  why  we  employed 
all  those  unskilled  men.  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  making 
the  strikers  believe  that  we  were  fast  filling  their  places, 
which  it  did,  for  in  the  next  day  or  so  many  of  the  men  who 
went  out  quietly  made  application  for  reinstatement.  In 
many  instances  these  applications  were  acted  upon  favor- 
ably and  the  men  put  to  work,  and  the  backbone  of  the 
strike  was  thus  broken. 

As  on  all  such  occasions,  many  acts  of  violence  were  com- 
mitted.    When  the  strikers  learned  that  men  were  being 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE.  321 

slipped  into  the  shops  they  were  very  wroth.  Now  and 
then  one  of  the  strike  breakers  would  stray  away  from  the 
shops.  They  were  fortunate,  indeed,  if  they  did  not  fall  in- 
to the  hands  of  the  pickets,  for  if  they  did,  and  which  was 
usually  the  case,  they  were  badly  beaten.  Of  course,  we 
always  attempted  to  prevent  the  men  going  out  after  they 
were  once  inside  of  the  enclosure,  knowing  what  they 
would  be  up  against,  but  we  were  not  always  successful 
in  keeping  them  inside.  On  the  second  day,  after  we  had 
retaken  the  shops,  a  coach  painter  named  Haller,  who 
had  been  employed  at  the  shops  for  several  months,  and 
who  was  at  home  at  the  bedside  of  a  sick  wife  when 
the  strike  was  called,  showed  up  at  the  shops  and  resumed 
work.  At  quitting  time  that  evening  he  picked  up  his 
dinner  bucket  and  started  down  the  track  to  Jefferson 
avenue,  as  had  been  his  custom.  On  arriving  at  Jefferson 
avenue  he  was  approached  by  a  number  of  pickets,  who 
remonstrated  with  him  for  going  to  work.  "I  cannot  afford 
to  loaf  now,  as  my  wife  has  been  sick  a  long  time,"  said 
Haller;  "besides,  I  am  satisfied  with  the  wages  I  am  re- 
ceiving and  intend  to  keep  on  working,"  and  started  up 
Jefferson  avenue  towards  his  home,  which  was  in  the  2600 
block  on  either'  Franklin  or  Easton  avenues.  The  pickets 
began  to  assault  him  with  rocks  and  clubs,  and  he  sought 
to  escape  them  by  running.  At  every  step,  almost,  the 
ranks  of  the  mob  were  augmented.  As  Haller  ran  past  the 
strikers'  headquarters,  which  were  in  Eutopia  Hall,  at 
Walnut  and  Jefferson  avenues,  a  crowd  of  several  hundred 
joined  in  the  chase.  The  long  run  up  the  hill  had  winded 
Haller.  Besides  he  had  been  weakened  by  the  blows  which 
had  been  showered  upon  him.  Seeing  that  he  could  not 
make  his  escape  on  account  of  his  weakened  condition,  he 
backed  up  against  a  brick  building  at  the  northwest  corner 


322  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

of  the  street  named  and  stopped.  A  big  bully  rusned  up  to 
him  and  struck  him,  whereupon  Haller  jerked  out  a  revolver 
and  shot  his  assailant,  who  dropped  dead  in  his  tracks. 
This  stopped  the  mob  from  doing  further  violence  to  him. 
The  police  from  the  mounted  district  rushed  to  the  scene 
and  placed  Haller  under  arrest.  No  attempt  was  made  to 
arrest  any  of  the  mob.  Later  in  the  evening  he  was  re- 
moved to  a  cell  in  central  station,  from  which  the  com- 
pany's officials,  at  my  request,  secured  his  release  on  bond. 
He  was  later  acquitted  by  a  coroner's  ju&y,  and  in  a  day 
or  so  thereafter  was  again  back  at  work.  After  that,  for 
quite  a  while,  I  sent  a  guard  home  with  him  each  evening, 
but  no  attempt  was  made  to  molest  him.  This,  I  believe, 
was  the  only  fatality  growing  out  of  the  strike  in  St. 
Louis.  Mr.  Haller  is  now  a  prosperous  business  man  in 
St.  Louis,  and  is  highly  respected  by  all  who  know  him. 
Thursday  afternoon  the  big  crane  at  the  shops  was 
rigged  up  for  business,  and,  under  the  guidance  of  skilled 
men  in  my  employ,  ran  out  to  the  edge  of  the  roundhouse 
pit,  into  which  the  strikers  had  dumped  an  engine,  as 
referred  to  before  in  this  article.  This  engine  so  blocked 
the  turntable  that  not  one  of  the  company's  engines 
in  the  roundhouse  could  be  taken  out.  The  engine  was 
lifted  out  of  the  pit,  and  in  a  short  time  the  turntable 
was  in  working  order.  That  same  evening,  I  decided  to 
straighten  out  things  at  Pacific.  To  do  this  I  had  made 
up  my  mind  to  place  the  ring-leaders  of  the  mob  which  had 
attacked  the  train  there  earlier  in  the  week  under  arrest. 
I  knew  it  would  take  quite  a  force  o^  men  to  do  this, 
so  I  instructed  twenty  of  my  men  to  assemble  quietly  in 
the  neighborhood  of  St.  Malachy's  church,  at  29th  and 
Clark  avenues,  at  ten  o'clock  that  night.  They  were  to 
come  to  the  rendezvous  in  ones  and  twos,  and  instructed 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE.  323 

to  do  nothing  that  would  attract  attention.  I  had  an 
engine  and  caboose  in  waiting  at  the  shops,  and  when  the 
men  had  all  assembled  they  were  marched  to  the  caboose, 
and  between  ii  and  12  o'clock  we  started  to  Pacific.  On 
arriving  at  the  first  cut  east  of  the  town  the  little  train  was 
stopped  and  left  in  the  cut  under  guard  of  the  engineer 
and  fireman,  and  two  of  my  men.  The  engine  carried  no 
h'glits,  and  no  sound  had  announced  our  arrival  near  the 
town.  In  fact,  we  approached  it  as  quietly  as  possible. 
The  men  were  divided  into  two  squads,  one  headed  by 
Billy  Bonnell  and  the  other  by  myself.  We  then  marched 
into  town  and  to  the  homes  of  the  men  wanted.  They 
were  aroused  from  their  slumber  and  placed  under  arrest. 
We  had  no  trouble,  except  at  the  home  of  a  big  blacksmith, 
who  had  been  especially  prominent  in  the  riot  at  the  sand 
bin  the  day  we  ran  the  first  train  through  the  town  after 
the  strike  had  been  called.  He  was  soon  subdued,  however, 
and  taken  with  the  balance  of  the  men  arrested,  to  the 
caboose,  which  had  been  left  standing  on  the  track  near 
the  edge  of  the  town.  Many  of  these  men  were  still 
suffering  from  the  blows  they  had  received  at  the  hands 
of  the  guards  who  were  on  the  train  they  had  attacked. 
Davis,  the  leader  of  the  mob,  who  was  hit  on  the  head 
with  a  coupling  pin  by  Marshall  F.  McDonald,  for  attempt- 
ing to  derail  the  caboose  of  the  train  attacked,  had  his 
head   still  covered  with  bandages. 

After  all  the  men  had  been  arrested,  we  boarded  the 
train  with  our  prisoners  and  ran  to  Washington,  where 
we  loaded  them  into  hacks  and  wagons  and  took  them 
to  Union,  the  county  seat  of  Franklin  County,  where 
they  were  placed  in  jail.  In  due  time  they  were  tried  be- 
fore Judge  Seay,  and  vigorously  prosecuted  by  Prose- 
cuting Attorney    Gallencamp,   and   all   of   them   convicted. 


324  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Davis,  the  leader,  was  given  three  years  in  the  peniten- 
tiary, while  the  blacksmith  and  several  others  were  let  ofif 
with  lighter  terms,  and  the  balance  of  the  men,  who  proved 
to  be  mere  tools  of  the  leaders,  at  my  suggestion,  were 
given  jail  sentences.  Davis,  after  entering  the  peniten- 
tiary, contracted  consmnption,  and  after  serving  a  Httle 
over  half  his  time,  was  pardoned  so  he  might  go  home 
to  die.  He  was  released  from  prison  one  Saturday,  re- 
turning to  Pacific  at  once.    The  following  Monday  he  died. 

Two  of  the  gentlemen  connected  with  the  trial  of  these 
strikers  have  since  made  reputations  for  themselves.  Judge 
Gallencamp,  who  prosecuted  the  cases,  is  now,  and  has 
been  for  several  years,  Surveyor  of  the  Port  of  St.  Louis, 
while  Judge  Seay,  who  presided,  has  received  high  honors 
at  the  hands  of  the  people  of  Oklahoma,  his  new  home,  he 
having  served  as  governor  at  one  time.  Mr.  W.  K.  Moir, 
whom  I  left  in  charge  of  Chamois,  proved  to  be  a  valu- 
able man  for  the  company.  He  being  a  good  engineer  and 
machinist  he  was  retained  there  as  general  foreman  for 
several  years,  until  the  division  was  removed  to  Jefferson 
City.  He  was  then  given  an  engine  in  the  yards  of  the 
company  at  that  point,  but  later  resigned  and  moved  to 
St.  Louis,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  a  few  years  ago. 

The  St.  Louis  strikers  made  their  headquarters  in 
Eutopia  Hall,  Jefferson  avenue  and  Walnut  street,  and  an 
ex-convict  named  Martin  O'Neal  usually  presided  over  the 
meetings.  I  lived,  at  that  time,  at  2729  Walnut  street. 
My  wife  was  very  sick,  being  confined  to  her  bed,  and  many 
of  these  strikers  in  going  to  and  from  their  meetings 
always  passed  by  the  house,  and  never  failed  to  jeer  at 
the  children,  if  the}^  happened  to  be  in  the  yard,  and  other- 
wise conducted  themselves  in  a  rude  manner.     One  striker, 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE.  325 

a  tough  switchman  named  Duffy,  went  so  far  as  to  enter  the 
yard  and  ring  the  door  bell  a  couple  of  times,  when  he 
knew  I  was  not  at  home,  and  when  the  door  was  opened 
by  my  little  daughter,  had  torced  his  way  into  the  house. 
He  would  then  let  on  as  though  he  wanted  to  see  me, 
telling  my  daughter  that  he  knew  all  about  a  conspiracy 
to  take  my  life,  and  his  call  was  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
me  on  my  guard.  His  story  and  rudeness  always  fright- 
ened my  family  very  badly,  they  thinking  that  possibly 
there  might  be  some  truth  in  his  story.  I  knew  Duffy 
and  his  reputation  as  a  general  bad  man,  and  knew  he  had 
no  business  with  me.  I  also  knew  he  was  aware  of  my 
whereabouts  during  business  hours,  and  I  decided  to  put 
a  stop  to  his  visits  at  my  private  home  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity. As  luck  would  have  it,  I  was  at  the  house  the 
next  time  he  called,  one  night  about  ten  o'clock.  I  had 
slipped  home  to  spend  a  few  moments  with  my  sick  wife, 
and  had  been  in  the  house  only  a  short  time,  when  the  door 
bell  rang.  My  daughter  saw  him  enter  the  yard  from  the 
window,  and  called  me.  I  answered  the  ring  of  the  bell 
by  opening  the  door  and  grabbing  Duffy  by  the  collar 
and  jerking  him  inside.  I  at  once  went  to  work  on  him 
with  both  fists.  He  was  either  too  cowardly  or  his  sur- 
prise was  too  great  for  him  to  make  any  resistance.  After 
I  had  given  him  a  few  good  stiff  jabs,  he  began  to  beg  for 
his  life.  "I  am  not  going  to  kill  you,  you  cur,"  I  rejoined, 
"but  I  am  going  to  teach  you  better  than  to  come  to  my 
home,"  and  I  lit  into  him  again.  After  punching  him  un- 
til I  was  tired,  I  let  up.  I  then  issued  a  few  orders  for 
the  cowering  wretch's  guidance  in  the  future,  and  also  sent 
a  message  to  his  followers,  couched  in  about  the  following 
language,  "  You  people  can  go  up  and  down  this  street,  of 
course,  but  don't  any  of  you  let  me  catch  you  on  this  side 


326  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

of  it.  Another  thing,  I  will  'get'  the  next  one  of  your 
cowardly  curs  who  jeers  at  this  house  again  while  passing. 
I  don't  want  any  of  you  to  ever  even  look  at  my  house.  If 
you  do,  and  I  find  it  out,  there  will  be  trouble."  After 
making  him  promise  to  deliver  the  message,  I  again  grab- 
bed him  by  the  collar,  and  pulling  the  door  open,  booted 
him  into  the  street.  I  always  gave  Duffy  credit  for  deliver- 
ing the  message,  for  that  gang  always  behaved  themselves 
when  passing  the  house  thereafter,  and  always  kept  to  the 
other  side  of  the  street. 

St.  Louis  was  not  the  only  scene  of  rioting  and  mob 
violence  during  the  strike.  At  Sedalia,  where  the  main 
engine  building  plant  of  the  company  is  located,  and  where 
about  2000  machinists  and  other  shopmen  were  employed, 
conditions  were  very  bad.  Sedalia  was  also  the  head- 
quarters of  the  operating  department  of  the  "Katy,"-  one 
of  the  Gould  properties,  and  a  division  point  for  all  Mis- 
souri Pacific  lines  at  that  time  running  through  Missouri. 
In  fact,  it  was  what  might  be  called  a  railroad  town.  It 
was  also  the  main  headquarters  of  the  strikers.  The 
Knights  of  Labor  were  very  strong,  even  most  of  the 
business  men  of  the  city  belonging  to  the  order.  Tl^ 
strikers  had  their  own  way  for  several  days.  Each  at- 
tempt on  the  part  of  Superintendent  Sibley  to  move  trains 
was  the  signal  for  rioting.  To  illustrate  the  boldness  of 
the  strikers,  I  will  relate  one  incident.  Adjutant  General 
J.  C.  Jamison,  of  Governor  Marmaduke's  staff,  had  been 
sent  to  Sedalia  to  investigate  conditions  there.  He  went 
to  the  yards  and  with  two  police  officers,  boarded  an  en- 
gine, attached  to  a  train,  which  the  officials  were  attempt- 
ing to  get  out  of  the  yards.  The  engine  was  given  steam 
and  the  train  started.  Before  it  had  gone  a  hundred  yards, 
however,  a  mob   climbed  aboard   the   engine,   stopped  the 


THE  BIG  SOUTHWEST  STRIKE.  327 

train,  uncoupled  the  engine  from  the  train,  put  on  steam, 
and  ran  the  engine  down  the  Katy  track  about  two  miles, 
and  after  letting  all  the  water  out  of  the  boiler,  ran  the 
engine  back  to  the  yards  and  into  the  roundhouse.  No  at- 
tempt was  made  to^,  harm  the  adjutant  general  and  the 
police  officers  by  the  mob.  Immediately  on  the  arrival  of 
the  captured  engine  at  the  roundhouse,  the  leaders  of  the 
mob,  who  proved  to  be  John  Perry  and  Fred  Page,  two 
of  Martin  Irons'  most  trusted  lieutenants,  were  placed 
under  arrest  by  Chief  of  Police  Barnett  of  Sedalia  and  a 
couple  of  his  officers.  The  arrest  caused  one  of  the  worst 
riots  ever  witnessed  in  the  little  city.  The  men  were  finally 
locked  up,  however,  by  the  plucky  Chief  of  Police,  but 
were  soon  released  on  bond.  This  riot  caused  a  change 
of  sentiment  on  the  part  of  the  business  men,  which  up 
to  this  time  had  been  with  the  strikers  entirely,  and  within 
a  few  days  enough  volunteer  guards  had  been  secured  to 
handle  the  situation.  Traffic  was  then  resumed  on  the 
roads.  Many  of  the  ringleaders  were  indicted  by  the 
Grand  Jury,  but  none  of  them  were  tried,  they  being 
allowed  to  leave  the  county. 

At  Kansas  City,  Parsons,  Denison,  Ft.  Worth,  Palestine, 
Little  Rock,  and  many  other  places  much  rioting  was 
indulged  in  by  the  strikers,  and  much  property  was  de- 
stroyed, and  worse,  several  lives  were  sacrificed. 

Martin  Irons,  after  the  strike,  was  completely  deserted 
by  the  men  whom  he  had  led,  and  became  a  wanderer  and 
an  outcast,  a  veritable  human  derelict.  His  constitution 
had  become  so  weakened  by  the  excessive  use  of  liquor 
that  he  could  not  hold  a  job  as  a  machinist,  although  he 
was  a  good  workman.  He  then  tried  lecturing,  but  in 
this  he  was  not  successful.  Later  he  opened  a  lunch  coun- 
ter at  Kansas  City.     This  enterprise  was  also  a  failure. 


328  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

He  finally  wandered  down  into  Arkansas,  and  one  morning 
was  found  dead  in  a  hovel.  Never  was  the  biblical  admoni- 
tion, "As  ye  sow,  so  shall  ye  reap,"  more  plainly  illustrated 
than  in  the  case  of  poor  Martin  Irons. 


WHY  I  OPPOSE  REWARDS. 

IT   OFTEN   IS   AN   INCENTIVE    FOR    UNSCRUPULOUS    OFFICERS  TO 
CONVICT     INNOCENT     PERSONS — RULE     REGARDING 
DIVORCE     CASES. 

I  do  not  believe  in  rewards,  and  in  all  my  long  career, 
have  made  it  a  rule  to  never  work  for,  or  receive  one,  no 
matter  how  great  the  amount  offered  for  the  arrest  and  con- 
viction of  the  guilty  party,  or  parties — this  being  the  usual 
way  that  the  heading  of  a  reward  is  written. 

Nor  do  I  believe  in  or  engage  in  procuring  evidence  in 
divorce   cases. 

However,  I  can  see  no  objection  to  the  offering  of  a 
reward  for  the  apprehension  or  capture  of  a  fugitive  who 
is  known  to  have  committed  a  certain  crime  against  the 
law,  and  for  whom  a  warrant  has  been  issued,  and  I  believe 
the  detective,  or  any  other  person,  who  makes  the  arrest 
would  have  the  right  to  accept  such  reward. 

Where  the  reward  is  offered  for  the  arrest  and  convic- 
tion of  some  person,  for  a  crime  that  has  been  committed, 
and  the  guilty  party,  or  parties,  is  unknown,  I,.-  from 
personal  experience,  have  been  led  to  the  belief  that  the 
offering  of  a  reward,  especially  a  large  reward,  is  an  in- 
centive for  unscrupulous  people,  and  especially  unscrupu- 
lous officers  of  the  law,  to  fasten  the  crime  on  some  un- 
fortunate, or  perhaps  some  dishonest  or  undesirable  citizen, 
which  can  be  found  in  almost  any  community,  in  order  to 


WHY  I  OPPOSE  REWARDS.  329 

obtain  the  reward.  These  unfortunate  people  are  easier 
to  convict  of  a  crime  than  persons  who  have  always  borne 
a  good  reputation.  Then,  again,  the  offering  of  a  reward 
for  criminals  whose  identity  is  unknown,  tends  to  keep 
a  certain  class  of  people  from  divulging  facts  that  they 
may  know,  which  might,  if  properly  utilized,  lead  to  the 
identity,  arrest  and  conviction  of  the  perpetrators  of  the 
crime   for   which   the   reward   was   offered. 

To  make  it  more  plain,  when  a  crime  has  been  committed, 
and  no  reward  is  offered,  this  same  class  of  people  are  more 
liable  to  "come  out  from  under  cover"  and  tell  what  they 
know  about  the  facts  in  their  possession,  believing  them 
of  no  material  value  to  the  officers  engaged  in  running 
down  the  culprit. 

Experienced  detectives  have  been  very  often  handicapped 
by  reason  of  a  reward  having  been  offered,  and,  for  this 
reason,  I  have  always  made  it  a  rule  to  pay  no  attention 
to  rewards. 

While  I  am  satisfied  that  it  is,  in  many  cases,  neces- 
sary for  the  purification  and  preservation  of  society,  to 
thoroughly  investigate  divorce  cases  as  it  is  to  apprehend 
and  convict  people  who  have  committed  a  theft  or  other 
crimes,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  there  are  so  many  crooked 
and  unscrupulous  men,  who  claim  to  be  detectives,  and 
who  make  the  divorce  business  their  specialty,  in  order  to 
elevate  myself  and  my  service  from  the  level  of  this  class 
of  people,  I  formed  a  rule,  at  the  beginning  of  my  career, 
not  to  have  anything  to  do  with  divorce  cases..  This  rule 
I  have  always  rigidly   enforced. 


330  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

WHY  I  AM  OPPOSED  TO  HANGING. 

AVERSION    TO    THIS    MODE    OF    EXECUTION    WAS    CAUSED    BY    AN 
INCIDENT  WHICH   HAPPENED   AT  BELLEVILLE    ILLINOIS, 
YEARS    AGO — THROUGH    THE    TRAP    WITH 
A    MURDERER. 

In  my  younger  days  I  was  a  firm  believer  in  hanging 
as  a  means  of  capital  punishment,  but  I  do  not  hold  the 
same  views  now,  and  have  net  for  a  long  time.  As  my 
friends  have  often  asked  me  what  caused  me  to  change 
my  mind  on  this  matter,  I  am  now  going  to  take  them 
into  my  confidence,  and  tell  them  all  about  it. 

Several  years  ago  I  had  some  important  business  to 
transact  with  Sheriff  Ropiequet  of  St.  Clair  County,  Illi- 
nois. I  went  to  his  office  in  the  Court  House  at  Belleville. 
The  deputy  in  charge  informed  me  that  the  sheriff  was 
over  in  the  jail  yard  putting  the  finishing  touches  to 
arrangements  for  hanging  a  negro  named  Johnson,  who 
had  been  convicted  of  killing  his  wife  in  a  most  brutal  man- 
ner. The  deputy  further  informed  me  that  if  my  business 
was  important,  I  had  better  go  to  the  jail  at  once,  as  the 
sheriff  would  probably  be  too  busy  later  to  see  me  until 
after  dinner.  Acting  on  this  tip,  I  at  once  went  to  the 
jail  and  was  admitted.  The  sheriff  told  me  he  was  too 
busy  at  the  time  to  attend  to  the  business,  and  would  be 
until  after  the  hanging,  and  invited  me  to  witness  the 
execution,  which  was  to  take  place  in  a  few  moments.  I 
cared  nothing  about  this,  as  the  witnessing  of  executions 
had  long  since  ceased  to  be  a  novelty  to  me,  but  under 
the  circumstances,  I  accepted  the  invitation. 

The  scaffold  had  been  erected  in  the  yard  surrounding 
the  jail.  The  platform,  which  was  about  eight  feet  square, 
rested  on  four  upright  posts,  about  six  and  a  half  feet  from 


WHY  I  AM  OPPOSED  TO  HANGING.  331 

the  ground.  The  trap  door,  which  was  about  three  feet 
square,  was  located  in  the  center  of  the  platform,  and 
fastened  to  one  end  by  two  hinges,  opening  downward. 
The  other  end  was  fastened  on  the  underside  by  a  bolt,  or 
trigger,  the  pulling  of  which  would  allow  the  body  to  drop 
down  through  the  platform.  On  the  center  of  the  trap  door 
was  a  soap  box,  on  which  the  culprit  was  to  stand  while 
awaiting  the  arranging  of  the  noose,  one  end  of  which 
ran  around  a  pulley  fastened  to  a  cross-beam  above  the  plat- 
form, so  that  the  rope  could  be  adjusted  to  the  proper 
length.  A  stairway,  about  three  feet  wide,  had  been  built 
from  the  ground  to  the  platform. 

Within  a  few  minutes,  the  sheriff  and  condemned  man, 
accompanied  by  a  priest  and  a  deputy  sheriff,  appeared  at 
the  door  leading  from  the  jail  to  the  yard  in  which  the 
execution  was  to  take  place.  As  they  marched  toward  the 
scaffold  the  sheriff  commanded  me  to  join  the  procession, 
which  I  did,  following  the  party  up  the  stairway  to  the 
platform.  The  condemned  man  appeared  cool  and  walked 
with  a  firm  step.  I  took  a  position  to  the  right  of  him, 
while  the  sheriff  stood  at  his  left.  The  priest  and  depmty 
stood  just  back  of  us.  After  the  man  who  was  about  to  be 
hanged  had  taken  his  position  on  the  box  on  the  trap,  he 
was  asked  if  he  had  anything  to  say,  as  is  usual  on  such 
occasions.  The  negro  made  a  complete  cO(nfession  of 
his  guilt,  but  claimed  that  the  drinking  of  bad  whiskey 
was  the  real  cause  of  his  committing  the  crime,  and  ad- 
monished all  within  the  hearing  of  his  voice  to  beware  of 
/strong  drink.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  talk,  the  deputy 
bound  his  legs  and  tied  his  hands  behind  him,  while  the 
sheriff  adjusted  the  black  cap.  The  negro  had  an  exceed- 
ingly long  head  and  neck,  and  as  a  result  the  cap  did 
not  cover  all  of  his  neck,  there  being  a  space  of  an  inch  or 


332  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

two  between  the  bottom  of  the  cap  and  the  top  of  his  coat 
collar.  Just  as  the  sheriff  placed  the  noose  around  the 
condemned  man's  neck,  but  before  the  officers  had  time  to 
tighten  the  rope,  it  came  in  contact  with  the  bare  place 
on  the  negro's  neck,  and  he  fainted.  The  sheriff  grabbed 
one  arm  and  I  the  other  to  keep  the  fainting  man  from 
falling  from  the  platform.  In  doing  this  we  both  stepped 
on  the  trap.  The  deputy  became  rattled  and  pulled  the 
trigger  at  this  moment,  and  all  three  of  us  started  down 
through  the  trap  together.  Now  the  sheriff  was  a  very 
large  man,  and  I  was  no  infant  myself,  so  when  all  three 
of  our  bodies  reached  the  level  of  the  platform  we  became 
wedged  in  the  opening.  The  noose  had  become  taut, 
just  enough  to  strangle  the  negro  a  little,  and  he  com- 
menced to  kick  and  squirm.  Finally  his  body  squeezed  on 
down,  relieving  the  pressure  on  the  sheriff  and  me,  and  we 
both,  too,  fell  through  to  the  ground.  We  were  not  harmed 
and  were  soon  on  our  feet.  Because  of  the  fact  that  the 
rope  had  not  been  adjusted  to  the  proper  length,  the 
negro's  toes  touched  the  ground,  thus  preventing  the 
breaking  of  his  neck.  He  strangled  to  death,  however,  in 
a  few  minutes.  Since  this  incident  I  have  been  opposed 
to  hanging  as  a  means  of  capital  punishment. 


A  CROOKED  DOCTOR'S  CRIME. 

ARREST   OP   THE   CULPRIT,    AND   HIS   CUNNING   ATTEMPT  TO   PUT 

HIS  CAPTOR  OUT  OF  THE  WAY  IN  AN  EFFORT 

TO  MAKE  HIS  EXCAPE. 

In  1873,  Mrs.  Boardman,  a  widow  woman  with  a  large 
family  of  grown  children,  resided  on  a  small  farm  in 
Venago  County,  Pennsylvania,  a  few  miles  east  of  Oil  City. 
She  became  acquainted  with  a  Hebrew  doctor,  who  called 


A  CROOKED  DOCTOR'S  CRIME.  333 

himself    Dr.    Solomon    Steinman.      He    practiced    medicine 
for  a  short  time  in  and  about  Rouseville,  Pennsylvania. 

There  were  a  number  of  producing  oil  wells  on  Mrs. 
Boardman's  farm,  and  she,  from  the  royalty  obtained 
from  the  products  of  these  wells,  had  accumulated  quite 
a  sum  of  money.  The  doctor,  representing  himself  as  a 
bachelor,  managed  to  grow  into  the  good  graces  of  the 
widow,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  she  was  the  mother 
of  two  sons  who  were  almost  as  old  as  himself.  In  a 
remarkably  short  space  of  time  the  doctor  succeeded  in 
obtaining  ten  thousand  dollars  of  the  widow's  money,  hav- 
ing represented  to  her  that  he  would  invest  it  for  her  in 
property  that  would  yield  fabulous  profits ;  but  instead  of 
making  the  investment,  he  quite  suddenly  left  for  parts 
unknown. 

The  widow's  sons,  on  hearing  that  their  mother  had  been 
swindled,  reported  the  matter  to  me,  I  being  Chief  of  Police 
of  Oil  City.  They  requested  me  to  locate  and  cause  the 
arrest  of  the  doctor  on  the  charge  of  obtaining  money 
under  false  pretense.  I  undertook  the  task  of  learning 
his  whereabouts,  and  it  seemed  impossible  to  get  any 
trace  of  him.  He  had  disappeared  from  his  boarding  house, 
telling  no  person  of  his  intention  of  leaving,  and  no  trace 
could  be  found  that  would  indicate  where  he  had  gone. 
He  was  at  his  boarding  house  for  supper  on  the  evening 
of  his  departure,  and  quietly  left,  after  eating  his  evening 
meal,  as  though  he  was  going  to  a  cigar  store  or  a  barber 
shop,  leaving  what  wardrobe  he  had,  grip  and  other 
articles,  in  his  room,  and  disappeared  as  effectually  as 
though  the  ground  had  opened  up  and  engulfed  him. 

The  evening  trains  had  all  left  the  town  before  he  had 
left  his  boarding  house,  so  that  he  was  obliged  to  have 
left  the  town  on  foot.    No  one  around  Rouseville  had  ever 


334  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

seen  a  picture  of  him.  He  was  a  small  man,  dark  com- 
plexioned,  about  forty-five  years  of  age,  five-  feet,  six 
inches  in  height,  and  weighed  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  pounds,  was  smooth  shaven,  had  black  curly  hair 
sprinkled  with  gray,  and  had  a  decided  Hebrew  counte- 
nance. About  five  months  after  his  disappearance,  in 
looking  over  one  of  the  morning  papers,  I  noticed  a  short 
article,  giving  an  account  of  a  Dr.  Lewis  who  had  been 
arrested  on  the  charge  of  malpractice,  at  Bay  City,  Michi- 
gan, the  day  before.  This  article  gave  a  minute  descrip- 
tion of  the  man  arrested,  and  from  this  description,  which 
answered  the  one  that  I  had  of  Dr.  Steinman,  I  con- 
cluded that  I  had  found  the  person  I  was  looking  for.  I 
took  the  first  train  to  Bay  City  and  found  Dr.  Lewis  in 
his  office,  he  having  been  released  on  a  two  thousand,  five 
hundred  dollar  cash  bond,  which  he  had  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  committing  magistrate.  I  also  learned  that  the  man 
giving  the  name  of  Dr.  Lewis  was  none  other  than  Dr. 
Steinman. 

He  had  already  been  indicted  in  Venango  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, for  obtaining  money  under  false  pretense,  and 
the  prosecuting  officer  of  Bay  City,  being  willing  to  sur- 
render him  to  me,  I  had  no  trouble  in  obtaining  the  neces- 
sary requisition  papers.  After  getting  the  papers  I  left 
Bay  City  with  my  prisoner. 

I  searched  him  carefully  and  took  charge  of  all  his  per- 
sonal effects.  We  took  the  train  for  Detroit,  Michigan, 
arriving  there  in  the  afternoon.  I  locked  him  up  in  the 
police  station  until  ten  o'clock  that  evening,  when  I  took 
him  to  the  dock  and  boarded  a  steamer  for  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  It  was  the  old  steamer  Northwestern,  and  our 
state  room  was  on  the  upper  deck,  pretty  well  forward. 
We  left  Detroit  about  ten-thirty  o'clock  that  night,  and 


A  CROOKED  DOCTOR'S  CRIME.  335 

were  due  to  arrive  at  Cleveland  in  the  morning  between 
four  and  five  o'clock.  We  retired  about  midnight.  I 
assigned  the  upper  berth  to  the  prisoner,  while  I  occupied 
the  lower.  As  I  said  before,  I  had  searched  him  thoroughly 
before    leaving   Bay    City. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  after  leaving  Detroit, 
I  dozed  off  to  sleep,  when  I  suddenly  awakened  and 
smelled  the  strong  odor  of  chloroform.  The  stateroom  was 
dark,  but  I  reached  up  towards  the  upper  berth  and  my 
hand  came  in  contact  with  the  doctor's.  He  was  holding 
a  cone  that  he  had  made  from  a  towel,  and  had  reached 
down  from  his  berth  and  was  holding  this  cone  over  a 
four  ounce  bottle  of  chloroform,  and  was  trying  to  put 
m^  to  sleep  for  good,  but  the  first  breath  that  I  had  in- 
haled, after  he  had  placed  the  chloroform  over  my  face, 
aroused  me.  I  grabbed  his  arm,  pulled  him  out  of  his  berth 
onto  the  deck  in  front  of  the  room,  and  would  have  thrown 
him  into  Lake  Erie,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  he  yelled 
at  the  top  of  his  voice,  and  aroused  the  lookout  on  duty  at 
the  forward  end  of  the  vessel,  and  also  the  wheelman,  both 
of  whom  reached  us  in  time  to  prevent  me  from  drowning 
the  doctor.  If  I  had  carried  out  my  intention  of  throwing 
him  overboard,  nothing  could  have  saved  him  from  drown- 
ing. I  then  made  him  dress  himself  and  took  him  down 
to  the  forecastle,  where  the  captain  placed  two  of  the  crew 
'o  guard  him  until  we  arrived  in   Cleveland. 

I  have  never  learned  how,  or  where,  the  doctor  secured 
the  bottle  of  chloroform,  as  I  had  searched  him  thoroughly, 
and  I  am  positive  he  did  not  have  it  on  him  when  we  left 
Bay  City,  and  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  must 
have  secured  it  while  he  was  in  the  lock-up  at  Detroit.  Of 
course,   I   did  not   search  him  there. 

During  the  Civil  War,  on  December  20,  1861,  I  received 


336  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

a  gun  shot  wound  above  the  right  knee,  at  the  battle  of 
Drainesville,  Virginia,  and  before  the  doctor  began  to  dress 
the  wound  he  administered  chloroform  to  me.  The  after 
effects  of  the  stuff  were  very  disagreeable  and  I  did  not 
get  over  it  for  a  long  time,  and  resolved  that  I  would  never 
again  take  chloroform  under  any  circumstances.  I  really 
suffered  more  from  the  nasty  stuff  than  I  did  from  the 
wound.  This,  I  presume,  accounts  for  the  shock  the  odor 
of  the  chloroform  produced  on  me. 

I  arrived  with  the  prisoner  at  Oil  City  in  due  time.  He 
was  tried  at  the  first  term  of  court  thereafter,  and  convicted 
and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  a  term  of  ten  years. 

I  succeeded  in  locating  and  recovering  nearly  five  thou- 
sand dollars  of  the  money  the  doctor  had  fraudulently 
secured  from  the  widow.  This  was  returned  to  her  by  due 
process   of   law. 


CAPTURE  OF  A  CLEVER  SWINDLER. 

SAM     BENARd's     unique   METHOD   OF    DEFRAUDING    THE     RAIL- 
ROADS— HOW    HE   DID  THE   WORK — HIS    CONVIC- 
TION  AFTER    A    LONG    CHASE. 

Between  the  years  of  1870  and  1876  the  railroads  of 
this  country  had  been  swindled,  time  after  time,  by  some 
unknown  person  changing  the  address  on  an  invoice  of 
goods  after  it  had  reached  the  railroad  ofhce.  This  was 
done  on  an  order  which  purported  to  come  from  the  firm 
which  had  shipped  the  goods. 

In  February  of  1876,  a  shipment  of  gentlemen's  dress 
goods  was  sent  to  A.  A.  Alden  and  Company  of  Franklin, 
Pennsylvania,  by  Brock  and  Weiner  of  Buffalo.  The  con- 
signment was  valued  at  $721.19.  A  few  minutes  after  the 
goods  had  been  delivered  at  the  freight  office,  a  man  entered 


CAPTURE  OF  A  CLEVER  SWINDLER.     337 

and  told  the  agent  that  the  boxes  had  been  marked  with 
the  name  of  the  wrong  town ;  that  they  should  go  to  Corry, 
Pennsylvania,  instead  of  Franklin.  The  agent  demanded  an 
order  from  the  firm,  before  making  the  change.  The  pre- 
tended clerk  wrote  out  the  order,  signing  the  firm  name  to 
it,  and  the  address,  Corry,  was  substituted  for  that  of 
Franklin.  This  being  done,  the  supposed  clerk  went  to 
Corry.  Here  he  pretended  that  he  was  a  merchant  from 
New  York,  and  that  he  was  to  open  an  auction  store  in  the 
town.  The  merchant  tailors  did  not  like  to  have  their 
trade  injured  in  this  manner,  so  ofifered  to  buy  the  goods. 
The  pretended  merchant  sold  them  at  a  much  reduced 
price,  and  received  a  check  for  three  hundred  fifty  nine 
dollars  and  sixty  cents.  He  indorsed  the  check  with  A.  A. 
Alden's  name,  thus  adding  forgery  to  his  other  crimes. 
Then  the  case  was  given  to  me. 

Two  weeks  went  by  without  a  clue  to  the  swindler.  I 
found  that  other  detectives  had  been  hunting  for  a  man 
who  had  played  the  same  game  in  other  cities,  but  the 
culprit  had  guarded  himself  so  well  that  even  his  real 
name  was  unknown.  From  the  descriptions  obtained  and 
from  his  general  manner  of  operation,  it  was  known  that 
the  same  person  had  been  operating  on  all  the  roads  where 
this  swindling  had  occurred.  One  day  while  in  Bufifalo,  I 
chanced  to  go  into  a  cigar  store.  At  this  time  the  news- 
papers were  full  of  the  swindle,  and  some  of  the  people 
m  the  store  were  discussing  the  afifair.  An  old  gentleman 
who  was  among  those  present  said  that  a  young  man  who 
had  been  employed  in  the  same  store  with  himself,  about 
six  years  previously,  had  swindled  his  employers  in  the  same 
manner.  This  was  in  Rochester.  I  took  the  hint  and  after 
questioning  the  old  man  I  found  that  the  name  of  his 
former  working  companion  was  William  Benard.     I  went 


338  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

to  Rochester,  and  while  there  obtained  the  names  of  some 
of  his  acquaintances,  and  finally  found  a  photograph  of 
him.  The  description  given  me  by  the  detectives  tallied 
with  the  photograph  of  Benard.  I  therefore  made  up  m}'- 
mind  that  Benard  was  the  man  I  wanted.  After  further 
inquiry  I  found  that  relations  of  Benard  lived  in  Detroit, 
Michigan.  I  went  there  and  obtained  information  as  to 
the  whereabouts  of  the  swindler.  I  followed  him  through 
Montreal,  Canada;  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Indianapolis, 
Toledo,  Chicago,  to  St.  Louis.  He  was  known  in  all  these 
places  as  "Jew  Harry."  It  seemed  that  it  was  impossible 
to  find  a  detective  in  any  one  place  who  had  not  at  some 
time  or  other  been  on  Benard's  tracks. 

On  my  arrival  in  St.  Louis,  June  26,  1876,  I  went  to  the 
office  of  Chief  of  Police  McDonohue  at  once.  I  told  him 
who  I  was  and  that  I  had  information  which  led  me  to 
believe  that  Benard  had  worked  in  St.  Louis.  When  the 
Chief,  who  was  very  portly,  and  somewhat  gruflf,  heard 
this,  he  straightened  up  in  his  chair,  and  said,  "It  is  im- 
possible. That  fellow  would  not  dare  to  come  to  St.  Louis. 
He  would  be  afraid.  He  knows  he  could  not  work  any 
such  game  in  this  town.  My  police  would  be  sure  to  get 
him."  I  then  told  the  Chief  that  I  had  reason  to  believe 
that  Benard  had  been  in  St.  Louis  within  the  last  few 
days.  This  idea  the  Chief  fairly  ridiculed.  Just  at  this 
moment  a  rather  elderly  man  entered  the  office,  in  a  very 
excited  manner.  He  had  brown  hair,  streaked  with  gray, 
and  wore  short  side-burns,  or  galways,  as  they  are  some- 
times called.  He  asked  if  he  could  see  the  Chief  for  a 
few  minutes,  so  I  at  once  rose  to  leave  the  office.  The 
Chief  told  me  to  remain,  then  asked  the  visitor  to  state 
his  business. 

He  told  the  Chief  that  his  name  was  H.  M.  Smith,  and 


CAPTURE  OF  A  CLEVER  SWINDLER.     339 

that  he  was  a  pawnbroker,  in  business  at  Eighth  and  Morgan 
streets.  He  then  went  on  to  say  that  a  man  giving  the 
name  of  Solomon,  representing  that  he  was  from  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  had  called  on  him  a  few  days  previous.  He 
had  represented  himself  as  a  pawnbroker,  and  had  presented 
the  business  card  of  Solomon  &  Company  of  Cleveland. 
Mr.  Smith  told  him  that  he  knew  of  the  firm,  but  never 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  a  member  of  it.  Solomon  then 
told  Smith  that  he  had  a  nephew  who  had  been  in  busi- 
ness with  him  for  years,  but  that  he  had  gone  out  west, 
in  the  mining  district  of  Colorado,  and  opened  up  a  pawn- 
shop of  his  own.  There  was  then  a  large  demand  for 
revolvers  and  pistols  of  heavy  caliber,  and  that  he  had 
ordered  about  two  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  heavy  caliber 
guns  and  ammunition  from  the  Simmons  Hardware  Com- 
pany of  St.  Louis.  After  he  had  placed  the  order  with 
the  request  that  it  be  packed  and  shipped  immediately,  he 
had  received  a  telegram  from  his  nephew  stating  that  he 
had  gotten  into  trouble  and  had  been  forced  to  leave  the 
country ;  and,  therefore,  could  not  take  the  order  from 
Simmons.  He  requested  Solomon  to  call  at  Simmons  and 
cancel  the  order.  The  Simmons  people  informed  Solomon 
that  as  the  fire-arms  were  already  packed  and  in  the 
freight-house,  preparatory  for  shipping,  they  could  not 
cancel  the  order.  Solomon  then  said  to  Smith,  "I  have 
no  use  for  these  pistols  and  guns,  and  I  can't  ship  them  to 
my  nephew  in  Colorado  since  he  has  left  there.  I  will  have 
these  goods  brought  up  to  your  store  and  you  can  examine 
them.  Then  if  you  find  them  just  as  I  have  represented, 
I  will  let  you  have  them  at  your  own  price.  You  can 
easily  sell  them  and  make  some  money  on  them." 

Mr.  Smith  assented.    Solomon  then  went  and  got  a  dray- 
man and  had  the  fire-arms  brought  to  Smith's  office  from 


340  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

the  freight  depot.  Solomon  got  there  about  the  time  the 
goods  did  and  had  the  cases  opened.  Smith  found  the 
goods  were  just  as  Solomon  represented,  so  he  told  Solo- 
mon that  he  would  give  him  eleven  hundred  dollars  for 
them,  which  was  about  half  their  value.  Solomon,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  accepted  Smith's  check  for  that  amount, 
and  left  for  parts  unknown.  On  the  morning  of  my  arrival 
and  while  I  was  talking  to  Chief  McDonohue,  Smith  had 
received  by  mail,  a  bill  for  the  goods  from  Simmons  Hard- 
ware Company  which  extended  to  him  the  privilege  of 
discounting  the  bill,  and  that  upon  making  immediate  pay- 
ment, he  might  deduct  the  usual  percent.  Whereupon 
Mr.  Smith  called  upon  the  Simmons  Hardware  Company, 
and  was  there  informed  that  a  man  resembling  him  very 
much,  had  called  there  and  selected  the  bill  of  goods,  and 
had  also  presented  Smith's  business  card.  They  thought 
it  was  Mr.  Smith,  and,  upon  finding  him  all  right  former- 
ly, had  unhesitatingly  packed  and  shipped  the  goods  as 
directed. 

Smith  and  Benard  looked  very  much  alike,  wearing  the 
same  style  of  beard  and  having  about  the  same  complexion. 
Smith's  description  of  Solomon,  who  was  really  Benard, 
was  very  accurate;  and  finally  wound  up  by  saying  that 
Solomon  looked  enough  like  him  to  be  his  younger 
brother. 

While  Smith  was  telling  the  Chief  this  story  I  was 
listening,  and  when  he  began  to  describe  Solomon,  I  asked 
the  Chief  if  I  might  be  permitted  to  ask  Mr.  Smith  a  fev/ 
questions. 

"Why,  certainly,"  replied  the   Chief. 

"Do  you  think,"  I  then  said  to  Smith,  "that  you  would 
know  this  man,  Solomon,  if  you  should  see  him  again?" 


CAPTURE  OF  A  CLEVER  SWINDLER.     341 

"Surely !"  answered  Mr.  Smith.  "I  would  know  him 
anywhere." 

I  then  took  Benard's  picture  from  my  pocket,  and  asked 
Smith  if  that  resembled  Solomon.  He  threw  up  his  hands, 
and  exclaimed : 

"Why !  That  is  him !  That's  an  excellent  picture  of 
him !" 

I  then  turned  to  the  Chief  and  said,  "Chief,  it  seems  that 
Benard  was  not  afraid  to  come  to  St.  Louis,  after  all." 

I  then  got  busy  and  learned  that  Benard  had  left  St. 
Louis  over  the  Burlington  and  had  gone  to  Quincy,  Illinois, 
a  few  days  before  my  arrival.  I  then  took  the  first  train 
for  Quincy.  There  I  learned  of  a  similar  swindle  with  a 
case  of  goods  shipped  to  Edina,  Missouri. 

I  left  at  once  for  Edina.  There  the  freight  agent  in- 
formed me  that  a  man  named  Solomon,  and  answering  to 
the  description  of  Benard,  had  called  for  a  case  of  goods ; 
but  the  agent,  who  was  a  relative  of  the  party  to  whom  the 
goods  had  been  originally  consigned,  had  refused  to  de- 
liver them  until  presented  with  some  identification.  Just 
about  this  time  I  received  word  that  Solomon  was  walk- 
ing out  of  town.  I  pursued  him,  arrested  him  and  brought 
him  back  to  town.  At  first  he  denied  everything,  even 
his  photograph,  but  finally  consented  to  go  with  me  when 
I  brought  out  other  proofs.  I  at  once  applied  for  a  requisi- 
tion from  the  authorities. 

After  the  capture  of  Benard  at  Edina,  by  me,  Benard's 
lawyer  insisted  that  he  could  not  be  taken  to  Pennsylvania 
while  he  stood  charged  with  a  felony  in  Missouri.  There- 
lore,  when  he  made  his  plea,  I  telegraphed  a  friend  in  St. 
Louis  to  employ  a  good  criminal  lawyer,  and  have  him 
report  to  me  at  Edina.  My  friend  employed  Col.  Nat.  C. 
Claiborne,  of  St.   Louis.     At  the  same  time  I  wired  Mr. 


342  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Smith  to  come  at  once,  or  send  his  son,  Sam,  to  Edina,  for 
the  purpose  of  identifying  Solomon.  In  due  time  both  Sam 
Smith  and  Col.  Claiborne  arrived  in  Edina.  Col.  Claiborne 
was  an  old  citizen,  and  was  well  known  all  over  the  state. 
He  was  acquainted  with  the  Judge  of  Knox  County,  and 
had  him  convene  a  special  term  of  Court  and  empanel  a 
special  Grand  Jury.  I  arranged  to  have  witnesses  appear 
before  the  Grand  Jury,  which  immediately  indicted  Ben- 
ard  for  the  Edina  swindle.  Col.  Claiborne  assisting  the 
Prosecuting  Attorney  at  Edina,  for  the  State.  Benard  was 
convicted  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  at  Jefiferson  City, 
Mo.,  for  four  years.  I  accompanied  him  to  Jefferson  City, 
where  I  procured  a  duplicate  of  the  receipt  for  the  body  of 
Benard,  from  the  Warden  of  the  Missouri  Penitentiary, 
and  previously  a  certified  copy  of  the  proceedings  at  the 
trial  and  conviction  in  Knox  County,  which  I  turned  over 
to  the  officers  of  the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad  on  my 
return  to  Pittsburgh.  This  satisfied  them,  but  not  so  well 
as  if  I  had  extradited  Benard  and  brought  him  back  to 
Pennsylvania  for  triah 

I  omitted  to  say  that  on  the  night  that  Sam  Smith 
arrived  in  Edina,  from  St.  Louis,  that  the  small  hotel  was 
filled  to  overflowing  and  the  landlord  was  obliged  to  assign 
Smith  to  my  room,  which  was  in  the  front  of  the  second 
story,  just  over  the  office.  About  ten  o'clock  that  night, 
just  as  Smith  and  I  had  retired  to  our  room,  preparatory 
to  turning  in  for  the  night,  a  shower  of  missiles  such  as 
rocks,  stones  and  pistol  shots  were  fired  through  the 
window  of  our  room  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  street. 
Upon  investigation  I  found  that  Benard  had  enlisted  the 
co-operation  of  some  sympathizers,  through  a  lawyer  in 
the  town,  whom  he  had  employed  to  defend  him,  and  at  the 
instance  of  whom  this  mob  was  formed  with  a  view  to 


LONG  HUNT  FOR  A  DEFAULTER.  343 

frightening  Smith  and  myself  and  the  other  witnesses,  who 
were  to  appear  in  the  case,  out  of  town.  We  were  so 
badly  frightened  that  we  did  not  leave  town  until  Benard 
had  been  tried  and  convicted,  and  when  we  left  Benard 
left  with  us. 


LONG  HUNT  FOR  A  DEFAULTER. 

INCIDENTS    CONNECTED   WITH   THE    ARREST    OF    E.   T.    SIMMONS; 

WHICH   IS   ACCOMPLISHED   AFTER  MUCH   HARD    WORK — 

HIS    CONVICTION. 

In  1873,  E.  T.  H.  Simmons  was  employed  as  book-keeper 
in  the  Oil  City  Savings  Bank,  at  Oil  City,  Pa.  Simmons 
was  about  28  years  of  age,  and  married.  He  had  borne  a 
good  reputation,  was  cultured,  pleasant  and  mild  mannered, 
and  also  was  known  to  be  very  industrious,  and  his  associ- 
ates were  the  best  young  people  in  the  community.  By  per- 
severance and  his  strict  attention  to  business  he  had  risen 
from  a  messenger  boy  in  the  bank  to  head  book-keeper.  He 
married  a  young  and  handsome  lady,  who  was  an  adopted 
daughter  of  a  prominent  citizen  of  Oil  City,  by  the  name  of 
Hiram  Hoag.  This  young  woman  had  been  raised  by  her 
adopted  parents  in  luxury,  and  was  stylish  and  naturally 
extravagant.  After  her  marriage  to  Simmons  her  extrava- 
gant habits  seemed  to  increase,  to  the  extent  that  her  bus- 
hand's  salary  was  not  large  enough  to  supply  her  demands. 
His  affection  for  her  and  his  desire  to  satisfy  her  every 
wish  led  him  to  steal  the  funds  from  the  bank.  At  first 
he  took  the  money  in  small  amounts,  which  he  covered  by 
falsifying  the  accounts.  The  authorities  of  the  bank  noticed 
that  there  was  something  wrong  in  the  accounts,  and 
immediately  and  quietly  employed  the  services  of  an  ex- 


34-4  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

pert  accountant,  unbeknown  to  Simmons,  the  head  book- 
keeper. 

On  the  morning  that  the  expert  accountant  appeared  at 
the  bank  and  took  charge  of  the  books  Simmons  suddenly- 
feigned  illness,  and  left  the  bank  for  his  home,  from  which 
he  immediately  disappeared  for  parts  unknown,  his  wife 
remaining  in  her  home  in  Oil  City. 

Mr.  John  Mulwheeney,  president  of  the  bank,  promptly 
engaged  the  services  of  what  was  then  considered  the 
greatest  detective  agency  in  the  United  States,  to  locate 
and  apprehend  Simmons.  However,  the  operatives  of  the 
detective  agency  referred  to,  after  a  number  of  months  had 
been*consumed  and  a  large  amount  of  expense  incurred  by 
them,  had  failed  to  locate  the  fugitive.  Finally  the  presi- 
dent, Mr.  Mulwheeney,  requested  me  to  try  and  locate 
-Simmons.  In  the  meantime  Simmons'  wife  had  quietly 
left  Oil  City,  unbeknown  to  any  person  outside  of  the 
family  who  had  raised  her,  it  being  but  natural  for  that 
family  to  keep  her  whereabouts  a  secret. 

I  undertook  the  case  only  after  the  earnest  entreaty  of 
President  Mulwheeney.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  thought  that 
the  bank  authorities  should  have  applied  to  me  in  the  first 
place,  after  Simmons  had  disappeared,  and  before  they 
had  engaged  the  detective  agency.  By  reason  that  the 
then  far-famed  detective  agency  had  incurred  an  enormous 
bill  of  expenses  and  finally  failed,  I  bent  all  my  energy 
towards  the  task,  and  succeeded  in  a  remarkably  short  space 
of  time  in  tracing  Simmons'  movements  from  the  time  he 
left  Oil  City.  I  found  that  he  had  gone  to  New  York 
City,  found  there  that  he  had  boarded  a  ship  for  Panama, 
Central  America,  and  learned  there  that  he  had  crossed 
the  Isthmus  to  Aspewall,  and  again  boarded  a  ship  from 
there  for  San  Francisco.     At  San  Francisco  he  landed,  I 


LONG  HUNT  FOR  A  DEFAULTER.  345 

learned,  and  had  gone  across  the  bay  to  Oakland,  Cali- 
fornia, where  he  engaged  lodgings,  and  a  short  time  after 
having  arrived  there  he  had  obtained  a  position  on  board 
a  steamship  as  assistant  purser.  This  ship  was  then  plying 
between  San  Francisco  and  Victoria,  British  Columbia. 

I  also  ascertained  that  a  wealthy  old  bachelor  uncle  of 
Simmons  resided  in  San  Francisco,  and  was  a  large  stock- 
holder and  director  in  the  steamship  line  by  which  Simmons 
was  employed  as  assistant  purser.  I  afterwards  learned 
that  it  was  through  the  influence  of  this  uncle  that  Simmons 
had  secured  the  position  with  the  company.  This  uncle 
was  about  seventy  years  of  age,  and  was  what  was  known 
as  a  '49er.  He  was  among  the  earliest  of  the  mine  prospect- 
ors who  had  gone  overland  to  California  in  the  year  1849. 

At  the  conclusion  of  my  investigation  I  found  that  the 
steamship  on  which  Simmons  was  an  officer  was  due  to  ar- 
rive in  San  Francisco  a  few  days  later.  In  the  meantime,  I 
ascertained  that  Simmons'  wife  had  joined  her  husband  in 
Oakland,  a.nd  that  they  had  fitted  up  a  comfortable  little 
cottage  in  the  suburbs  of  that  town,  so  I  quietly  awaited 
the  arrival  of  the  ship  Mr.  Simmons  was  employed  on. 

In  due  time  the  ship  arrived,  and  I  took  up  a  position 
where  I  could  plainly  see  every  one  that  left  the  ship. 
Finally,  after  all  the  passengers  had  left,  the  officers  began 
to  leave  the  ship  for  their  homes,  and  among  them  I 
noticed  E.  T.  M.  Simmons.  Simmons  had  changed  his 
uniform  for  a  suit  of  plain  business  clothes,  and  it  being 
after  dark  in  the  evening  I  had  but  little  trouble  in  follow- 
ing him  unobserved.  I  shadowed  him  until  he  reached 
his  residence  on  Tenth  street,  in  Oakland,  where  he  was 
met  at  the  door  by  his  wife  and  his  mother,  who  appeared 
to  be  on  a  visit  at  his  home.  I  then  withdrew  and  learned 
that  the  ship  would  remain  in  port  forty-eight  hours 


346  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

The  following  morning-  I  took  a  train  from  Oakland  for 
Sacramento,  California,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  the 
necessary  requisition  papers,  which  would  authorize  me 
to  arrest  and  convey  Simmons  from  California  back  to 
Venengo  County,  Pennsylvania,  as  the  authorized  agent 
for  the  state  of  Pennsylvania.  This  I  accomplished  in  a  few 
moments,  having  already  procured  all  the  necessary  papers 
with  the  exception  of  the  signature  of  the  Governor  of 
California.  I  returned  to  Oakland  the  same  day,  and  about 
ten  o'clock,  after  first  having  ascertained  that  Simmons  was 
at  his  home,  I,  accompanied  by  Detective  James  Coffee,  of 
San  Francisco,  whom  I  had  requested  to  assist  me, 
approached  Simmons'  cottage.  I  requested  Officer  Coffee 
to  ring  the  front  door  bell  while  I  took  up  a  position  on  the 
porch  at  the  back  door.  Coffee,  as  instructed,  vigorously 
rang  the  front  door  bell.  When  Simmons,  who  had  gone  to 
bed,  heard  the  bell  he  at  once  sprang  from  his  bed,  and 
wrapping  his  clothes  in  a  bunJie,  not  waiting  to  put  them 
on,  ran  to  the  back  door,  hastily  opened  it,  and  ran  head- 
long into  my  arms.  I  heard  him  instructing  his  wife,  or 
mother,  as  he  left  his  room,  not  to  open  the  front  door 
until  he  had  time  to  get  out  of  the  back  door. 

This  cottage,  being  in  the  suburbs,  there  was  a  large 
open  space  of  ground  at  the  rear  of  the  cottage,  which 
was  thickly  covered  with  live-oak  trees,  and  if  Simmons 
had  succeeded  in  getting  away  from  the  cottage  and  among 
the  live  oaks  he  would  have  effectually  been  hidden  by  the 
dense  foliage,  and  would,  in  all  probability,  have  made 
his  escape. 

We  at  once  took  him  to  San  Francisco,  and  by  reason 
of  my  having  knowm  him  so  well  and  favorably,  I  did  not 
lock  him  up,  but  instead  took  him  to  my  room,  where  I 
kept   him   until   train   time,   when   we   took  the   Overland 


LONG  HUNT  FOR  A  DEFAULTER.  347 

train  for  Omaha,  Pittsburg  and  Oil  City,  where  we  arrived 
in  due  time  and  safe,  with  but  a  single  incident  of  im- 
portance on  the  trip.  Before  leaving  San  Francisco  I 
told  Simmons  that  if  he  would  stay  close  to  me  during  our 
trip  homeward  I  would  not  place  him  in  irons,  and  that  no 
person  on  the  train,  not  even  the  crew,  would  know  that 
he  was  a  prisoner.  He  agreed  to  this  and  everything  went 
along  swimmingly  until  after  midnight  on  the  second  night 
out  of  San  Francisco.  Simmons  and  I  occupied  a  lower 
single  berth  in  the  Pullman.  Simmons  was  sleeping  next 
to  the  window,  and  I  occupied  the  side  next  to  the 
aisle.  I  had  made  it  a  rule  not  to  let  Simmons  go 
to  sleep,  and  kept  talking  to  him  just  as  long  as  1  could 
keep  awake  myself.  The  result  was  that  Simmons  got  to 
the  point  that  he  was  ready  to  drop  into  slumber  as  soon 
as  I  would  allow  him  to  do  so  by  stopping  talking  to  him. 
In  those  days  I  could  stand  the  loss  of  sleep  if  it  was  neces- 
sary. On  the  second  night,  as  I  said,  while  I  was  feigning 
sleep  I  noticed  Simmons  was  also  playing  "possum."  Final- 
ly he  quietly  "turned  the  bed-spread  down  off  of  himself 
and  then  noiselessly  took  his  wearing  apparel  from  the 
hammock,  which  was  above  him,  and  proceeded  to  creep 
over  me  into  the  aisle  with  his  clothes  under  one  arm.  I 
lay  perfectly  quiet  and  did  not  disturb  him  until  he  had 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  aisle,  when  I  suddenly  grabbed 
him  by  one  of  his  limbs  and  threw  him  back  into  the 
berth.  He  strenuously  denied  that  he  was  trying  to  escape, 
and  protested  that  he  was  merely  restless,  and  thought 
he  would  sit  up  a  while  and  not  disturb  me,  but,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  he  was  really  attempting  to  escape  from 
the  train.  This  occurred  in  a  desert  in  Utah,  but  after  that 
he  behaved  himself  and  made  me  no  further  trouble. 
After   we    arrived    in    Oil    City   he   was    locked'   in   the 


348  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

county  jail,  in  default  of  bail,  and  when  his  case  was  called 
he  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge  of  embezzlement  and 
was  sentenced,  by  the  Hon.  John  M.  Trunkey,  at  Franklin, 
Pa.,  to  a  term  of  ten  years  in  the  Western  Penitentiary  of 
Pennsylvania,  which  is  at  Allegheny  City. 

However,  after  he  had  pleaded  guilty  and  received  his 
sentence,  and  before  he  had  been  taken  to  the  penitentiary, 
he  received  a  letter  from  his  wife,  written  from  Oakland, 
California,  in  which  she  coolly  and  heartlessly  informed  him 
that  as  he  had  pleaded  guilty  to  a  charge  of  felony,  and  had 
been  sentenced  to  a  term  in  prison,  that  she  had  decided 
to  avail  herself  of  her  legal  privilege,  under  the  existing 
conditions,  and  apply  for  a  divorce  from  him,  which  the  law 
would  grant  her  on  the  ground  that  he  was  a  convicted 
felon,  and  that  she  had  made  up  her  mind  to  marry  his 
wealthy  old  uncle,  the  "forty-niner"  who  had  procured 
Simmons  his  position  on  the  steamship.  She  immediately 
proceeded  to  carry  out  her  plans.  She  wound  up  her  letter 
by  saying  that  she  would  rather  be  an  old  man's  darling 
than  a  felon's  slave. 

The  contents  of  this  letter  almost  broke  poor  Simmons' 
heart.  Every  person  in  and  about  Oil  City,  who  knew 
him,  knew  that  it  was  through  her  extravagance  and  love 
of  luxury  that  he  had  committed  the  crime,  and  when  the 
contents  of  this  letter  became  known  the  sympathy  of  all 
who  knew  Simmons  was  aroused  in  his  favor,  and  the 
best  people  in  the  community,  including  the  officers  of  the 
bank  whose  funds  he  had  embezzled,  filed  a  petition  with 
the  governor  of  the  state  for  a  pardon  for  him.  This 
petition  was  later  signed  by  the  prosecuting  attorney  and 
by  Judge  Trunkey,  himself. 

Meanwhile  Simmons  had  been  taken  to  the  peniten- 
tiary, but  he  only  remained  there  a  short  time  until  the 


GEORGE  HERSOGG'S  DOWNFALL.  349 

g-overnor  of  the  state  pardoned  him.  On  his  release  he  went 
immediately  to  California  to  find  his  former  wife,  now  the 
wife  of  his  old  uncle,  and  at  once  instituted  proceedings 
for  the  custody  of  their  child,  which  he  easily  obtained. 
The  child  was  born  a  short  time  after  his  father's  arrest, 
and  Simmons  had  never  seen  his  son.  Simmons  obtained 
employment  in  the  passenger  department  of  a  large  rail- 
road company.  This  position  he  filled  creditably  for  a 
number  of  yeais. 

His  former  wife  visited  Oil  City  about  two  years  after 
her  marriage  to  the  second  husband.  She  was  accompa- 
nied by  a  couple  of  maids  and  a  number  of  trunks,  which 
contained  many  costly  robes  and  gowns.  During  her  stay 
in  Oil  City  she  called  on  a  number  of  her  girlhood  friends 
and,  acquaintances,  but  it  so  happened  that  they  were 
all  out  when  she  called  and  finding  it  impossible  to  meet 
them  she,  as  the  soldiers  say,  "hiked"  from  Oil  City,  and  so 
far  as  the  writer  knows  has  never  been  heard  of  in  that 
city  since. 


GEORGE  HERSOGG'S  DOWNFALL. 

FACTS     REGARDING     THE     CONVICTION     OF     AN     INTERNATIONAL 
AND  GREAT  NORTHERN  BAGGAGEMAN  OF  MANY  CRIMES. 

Early  in  the  '80s  the  railroad  companies  of  the  Southwest 
were  troubled  very  much  by  the  continued  receipt  of  com- 
plaints of  passengers  from  all  quarters  of  the  United  States, 
an^.  some  from  foreign  countries,  and  their  filing  claims  for 
articles  which  had  been  stolen  from  their  trunks  and  other 
baggage  while  in  transit. 

The  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  Company  and  the  Inter- 
national &  Great  Northern  Railroad  Company  were  both 


350  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

parts  of  the  Gould  System,  and  formed  a  through  and 
direct  line  between  St  Louis,  Galveston  and  San  Antonio, 
Texas  in  the  winter  season  both  Galveston  and  San  An- 
tonio were  winter  resorts,  largely  patronized  by  health 
seekers.  The  complaints  became  so  numerous  that  they 
were  turned  over  to  my  department  for  investigation. 

I  took  the  matter  up  and  alter  a  long  and  tedious  investi- 
gation decided  to  pay  special  attention  to  one  George 
Hersogg,  who  was  employed  as  train  baggage-master,  run- 
ning between  Longview  and  San  Antonio,  Texas.  In  my 
investigation  I  had  noticed  that  nearly  every  case  of  lost 
articles  from  baggage  were  traced  to  the  train  on  which 
Hersogg  was  baggage-master,  therefore  I  concluded  to  test 
him  first. 

Hersogg  occupied  a  room  in  a  private  boarding  house 
when  at  Longview,  where  he  had  a  twenty-four  hour  lay- 
over. I  sent  one  of  my  operatives,  George  Herbert,  to 
Longview,  who  represented  himself  as  a  railroad  man,  and 
he  secured  a  room  in  the  same  boarding  house  where  Her- 
sogg was  stopping.  After  remaining  there  for  a  few  days 
Herbert  became  acquainted  with  Hersogg  and  with  his 
runs,  and  when  he  would  be  absent  from  his  room.  Having 
accomplished  this,  Herbert  became  indisposed,  and  for  that 
reason  was  compelled  to  remain  in  his  room  for  a  few 
days. 

In  the  meantime  impressions  of  certain  keyholes  had 
been  taken,  and  a  number  of  skeleton  keys  had  been  sent 
to  Herbert  at  Longview.  He  had  noticed  that  Hersogg 
had  two  rather  large  trunks  in  his  room,  and  when  the 
proper  opportunity  presented  itself  he  examined  the  con- 
tents of  Mr.  Hersogg's  trunks,  unbeknown  to  the  inmates 
of  the  boarding  house,  and  to  Herbert's  great  surprise  he 
found  in  one  of  the  trunks  a  silver  mounted  Smith  &  Was- 


GEORGE  HERSOGG'S  DOWNFALL.  351 

son,  pearl  handled  revolver,  which  he  immediately  recog- 
nized as  the  property  of  the  Hon.  Joseph  Harris,  who,  at 
that  time,  was  Circuit  Attorney  for  the  City  of  St.  Louis, 
but  was  in  San  Antonio  for  his  health.  Herbert  also  found 
a  number  of  articles  of  jewelry,  which  he  knew  to  be  the 
property  of  Mrs.  Harris.  In  this  connection  I  will  say  that 
Herbert  had  been  a  member  of  the  St.  Louis  police  depart- 
ment prior  to  his  entering  my  service,  and  while  there  he 
had  been  on  detached  service  at  the  Circuit  Attorney's 
office,  in  which  capacity  he  had  acted  for  about  two  years, 
thereby  meeting  Mr.  Harris  daily,  and  seeing  his  wife  very 
frequently,  and  becoming  familiar  with  both  Harris'  re- 
volver and  Mrs.  Harris'  jewelry. 

Upon  the  discovery  of  the  revolver  Herbert  promptly 
reported  to  me  by  wire  code.  Up  to  that  time  we  had  had 
no  report  of  the  Harris  robbery,  and,  in  fact,  did  not  know 
that  Mr.  Harris  had  gone  to  San  Antonio.  On  receipt  of 
Herbert's  report,  I  at  once  got  into  communication  with 
Harris  at  San  Antonio,  and  he  verified  the  loss  of  the 
articles  which  Herbert  had  reported  he  had  found  in  the 
trunk  of  the  baggageman  at  Longview. 

Herbert  also  found  other  articles,  the  loss  of  which  had 
been  reported  from  various  sections  of  the  country.  The 
most  valuable  article  was  a  diamond  and  emerald  ring, 
which  contained  one  large  diamond  and  two  small  sized 
emeralds.  This  ring  was  the  property  of  a  lady  who  lived 
at  Peoria,  111.,  and  who  had  gone  over  the  route  to  San 
Antonio  some  months  before  the  discovery  of  it  in  Her- 
sogg's  trunk.     vShe  valued  the  ring  at  about  $800.00. 

We  arrested  Hersogg,  and  he  was  tried  in  due  time  con- 
victed and  served  four  years  in  one  of  the  state  prisons  of' 
Texas. 


352  FIFTY  YEARS  A  DETECTIVE. 

Many  of  the  stolen  articles  which  were  recovered  were 
fully  identified,  and  returned  to  their  owners. 

It  developed  that  Hersogg  had  provided  himself  with 
skeleton  keys  of  all  sizes  and  styles.  Having  a  whole  bag- 
gage car  to  himself,  he  was  thus  able  to  open  and  inspect 
all  the  baggage  at  his  leisure.  He  was  afforded  ample  time 
between  stations  in  which  to  loot  the  contents  of  the  bag- 
gage car,  and  strap  and  lock  them  up  again,  leaving  no 
trace  on  the  outside  of  the  baggage  having  ever  been 
tampered  with. 

The  capture  and  conviction  of  Hersogg  was  not  only  a 
source  of  relief  to  the  Gould  System,  but  was  an  equal 
relief  to  all  connecting  lines. 

(THE  END.) 


Organized  at  St.  Louis,  1880  Incorporated  1891 

Furlong  Secret  Service  Company 

SUITE  1206  CHEMICAL  BUILDING 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 


Thomas  Furlong,  President  and  General  Manager. 
John  U.  Menteer,  Vice-President  and  Ass't  Gen.  Manager. 
E.  D.  Dawson,  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 
J.  S.  Manning,  Superintendent,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
W.  E.  Ward,  Superintendent,  Chicago,  111. 
L.  I.  Ziegler,  Superintendent,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Suite  205  Lyric  Theatre  Building. 
J.  E.  Smith,  Superintendent,  Houston,  Tex. 


Correspondents  and  Resident  Operatives  in  all  the  principal 

cities  of  the  United  States  and  all  foreign 

countries. 


This  Company  furnishes  competent  and    reliable  operatives 
to  railroads,  corporations,  lawyers  and  firms,  to 
do   all   kinds   of   legitimate   detec- 
tive work. 


We  do  not  handle  divorce  cases  or  work  for  rewards. 


CONTENTS 


,  Page 

Preface 3 

Sidelights  on  the  Business 5 

The  Preller  Murder  Case  {Illustrated) 9 

The  Big  Cotton  Swindle  39 

A  Remarkable  Case  {Illustrated)  66 

Tracing  Train  Wreckers  {Illustrated) 76 

"Moonshining"  in  the  Oil  Regions  {Illustrated) 91 

The  Capture  of  Wess  Watts  {Illustrated)  98 

Solving  a  Trunk  Mystery  {Illustrated)  123 

The  Glencoe  Train  Robbery  {Illustrated) 130 

Running  Down  the  Revolutionists 137 

A  Dallas  Murder  Avenged 148 

The  Toughest  of  Tough  Towns  {Illustrated)  162 

The  Rohan  Express  Robbery 180 

Arrest  of  Lawrence  Poyneer  {Illustrated) 190 

Ticket  Forgers  Run  Down 193 

Conviction  of  John  Collins  {Illustrated) 198 

Fred  Erfert's  Fall  From  Grace 207 

Battle  With  Would-Be  Bandits „ 219 

The  Great  Pittsburg  Strike 229 

Murder  of  Conductor  Frazier 238 

Fight  With  a  Maniac 249 

Decoying  a  Bad  Man  {Illustrated) 252 

Tragic  Death  of  Bill  Casey 269 

Subduing  a  Notorious  Bully 279 

A  Ruse  That  Worked 285 

Charlie  Dalton,  Outlaw 293 

Conspirators  Handed  a  Lemon 297 

The  Big  Southwest  Strike  {Illustrated)  306 

Why  I  Oppose  Rewards 328 

Why  I  Am  OppCJsed  to  Hanging  330 

A  Crooked  Doctor's  Crime 332 

Capture  of  a  Clever  Swindler 336 

Lofig  Htmt  for  a  Defaulter  343 

George  Hersogg's  Downfall 349 


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University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  •  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


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